Mother's Day Special Edition

My Mother, Ethel, in her younger days

Thought for the Day: Mother's Day wasn't the same for me for many years when I lived abroad. I left after finishing high school when I was 17 and did not live in the United States for many years. I was not a rebellious teenager, but as all teens, I did not always see eye to eye with my mother. Since Mother's Day was not celebrated nationally in May where I was living, I often forgot about the holiday. I was busy working, studying and raising my own children. Usually there was a Mother's Day celebration in my children's schools, but it did not coincide with American Mother's Day. Phone calls cost a fortune and I was not the best correspondent. I regret that I did not pay too much attention to American Mother's Day over those years. When I remembered I would wish my Mother a Happy Mother's Day, but she never seemed to mind.
     When I moved back to the Boston, my mother lived in Houston. Every Mother's Day, we would speak. Somehow, I tried to let her know how grateful I was for all she had done for me, whenever we spoke or saw each other throughout the year. It was not until after she moved to Boston that in addition to Mother's Day steak dinners and orchid corsages, which she loved,  a new Mother's Day tradition developed for me and my mother. It wasn't officially Mother's Day, but it became my personal holiday with her.
     My mother was getting older and had more and more dietary restrictions. She liked to go out, but she also enjoyed visits at her apartment in Arlington. It started with my feeling a strong desire to simply spend time with her on my birthday. Her apartment was on the bike path from Bedford where I lived which stretched to Cambridge. First, I would drop by on my bike. She would offer to take me out, but often we simply spent several hours together just enjoying each other's company. Even after I moved from Bedford, I would drive to my mother's apartment and spend time on my birthday with her. Throughout my life, she, and my grand mother were my biggest fans, even when she disagreed with me. On my birthday, I felt such immense gratitude that spending my birthday with her seemed like the perfect "Mother's Day" gift I could give to her. Every day, I miss her and wish I could share with her all the joys (and sorrows) that life has continued to bring to me and all her children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren. She would be so proud of them all. Happy Mother's Day!