Hiking last week and seeing the spring flowers bravely pushing through the areas that had been burned, I began thinking about Mother’s Day and felt inspired to write a post to reach out to my fellow moms and grandmas.
It’s a few days late, but hey, life gets in the way. Whether your child is a toddler, a teen or an adult, whether your child is here or sadly gone, I hope you had a special day. There are challenges in being a parent but there are also blessings, like grandchildren.
My daughters, Jennifer, Nicole and Danielle, have enriched my life in ways I would never have imagined. They have truly filled my heart. As I’ve gotten older, there is such joy in knowing them as adults. It also takes some the edge off of aging. I may not be able to remember what I had for breakfast but I can remember the moment that I first held each of them in my arms and the first time they smiled. By the way, you know you’re old when your daughters ask you about menopause.
ELBEE Trust me, she’s old and that is oversharing.
I lost my own beautiful mom Norma in1969 when she was only 46. My dad, who was incredibly funny and charismatic, died of a brain tumor when I was in high school. My mom couldn’t recover from his death. Once I was married, she felt it was time to join him. She never met my girls but she would have loved them and they would have adored her. Although, she left this world years ago, her spirit is always with me.
I am also, like the woman I saw in a t-shirt the other day, a “dog mom. ”
ELBEE Why didn’t she put us first?
I have been a lifelong dog lover. I say lifelong because even when I was a toddler, there were dogs, often different ones, included in most of my photos.
ELBEE She was such an unattractive kid, I think her sweet mom put dogs in the pictures so people could say “aw, how cute” without having to lie through their teeth.
When my daughters were young, the dogs were kind of a casual part of the family. When the girls grew up and moved out, the dogs stepped up and filled the empty nest. I even wrote a post called, “The 12 Reasons Dogs Are Better than Children.” For instance, dogs don’t judge, they don’t date and they don’t question your wardrobe choices. They will also pose for any picture.
ELBEE Apparently, she’s still going for strongest granny in the gym.
To my fellow dog moms and to moms everywhere of every kind, from step to honorary to surrogate, remember that Mother’s Day is every day. It’s in the love, the respect and the understanding that we all share.