Mothers' Day Musing

Mother's Day has never been a real big deal in our family. The kids give me a card, my husband gives me a gift card and then it is Sunday as normal. There have been a few abnormal Mothers' Days. In 1992 I was sitting in the 9:00 a.m. mass when I started to have contractions. Not really understanding exactly what they were, since they didn't really hurt, but not wanting to have anything embarrassing happen, I told my husband that we were leaving. An couple of hours later we went to the hospital. At 10:30 that night, an emergency c-section was performed, making me a mother--on Mothers' Day. Another that stands out was two years ago. My baby was born Thursday afternoon, and we came home Saturday afternoon. Mothers' Day I felt fine and was scheduled to lector, so we went to mass. Our parish has a tradition of giving flowers to a selection of moms on Mothers' Day, usually including the oldest mom, the mom with the most kids and the mom with the newest baby. Guess who got a flower that year? Everyone was amazed that I was at mass so soon, but frankly I felt better that day than I had a week before. Today was another memorable Mothers' Day, but for a much sadder reason. It was my first Mothers' Day without my mom. She died the Thursday after Ash Wednesday. Most of the time I can say it was a blessing when death finally came, but there are times when I miss her so much. I was crying in church today when I thought of her celebrating Mothers' Day in heaven.