Mother's Day

It's amazing how many emotions a hallmark holiday can inspire. It's also amazing how much money we can guilted into spending just to prove something, but that's for another time.

In our home lies a spectacular mommy, the mother of my children. This morning her little girls and I came to her room to present her with mother's day goodies. The girls made some paper flowers with their own pictures as part of the flower to put on mommy's wall. They had mother's day cards for her as did I, so blessed that she is the mother of my children. It is a different situation though, having to hold the cards and gifts in front of her face at just the right level so she can see them, being unable to move anything but her eyes. It is different for her not being able to pick up and hold her children, nor able to wipe her own tears of joy that came to her eyes when reading her cards and listening to her children sing to her. I love my wife, the blessed mother of our children.

In our home today we also have the woman who gave birth to mommy and raised her to be the spectacular mother that she is. As we know, a mother's work is never done yet most mothers don't face taking care of their 41 year old daughter, giving her medicines, feeding her, suctioning out her mouth and throat, wiping her tears, etc. Yet watching her be here and do it every chance she gets shows me very clearly why my girls' mommy has become the wonderful woman and mother that she is. It is a beautiful sight to see in such a difficult situation.

Of course my own mothers are present on my mind too. I have the different (not unique but not the most common) situation of having two mothers.

My mommy is the one who brought me into her home and heart when I was days old. She had the biggest hand in raising me, for good or bad, to be the man that I have become. She took care of us at home and she worked outside the home to give us lots of extras. She gave us a love for music as well as love for our family and others. She instilled in us the value of good grades and made it possible for us to have the best education we desired. My little girls delight in the time that they get to spend with her whenever they can.

And then there is my birthmother, the woman who gave me life, making what had to be one of the most difficult and unselfish choices in her life, the choice to place me with other parents. Other parents who she felt could give me the things she wanted me to have and knew that she couldn't. I don't know this mother but there remains a special place in my heart for her. I don't know her. I don't have the opportunity to let her know what I think or feel about her. I don't get to tell her that she made the choice to place me in the hands of other women in my life and because of her choices, I have turned out more or less okay. I do hope, somehow, someway that these things can be made known to her. If you are my birthmom, thank you. If you are anyone else's birthmom, thank you.

Whether it be my girls' mommy, her mommy, my mommy or my birthmom, this hallmark holiday gives the chance not just to get you a card but also the impetus to sit and think, to let all the emotions swell, and to say "Happy Mother's Day."