For the Love of Mommies

When everyone said she should not, my mom went back to law school.  She made this choice when I was 7.  You can imagine how difficult it was for a 40-year-old woman to break into law in 1980 with three children at home.  Through my eyes, she made that transition flawlessly.  If I could ask her, she’d probably quietly admit that it was hard.  That the juggle of being a mother, wife and a law student was incredibly difficult.  And then, without missing a beat, she’d remind me that it was one of the best decisions she’d ever made. 

My mom was a warrior.  I know she loved me.  When I needed her strength, she shared it.  When I needed a lesson, she provided it.  When I needed a shoulder, she gave me another lesson, and then her shoulder.  She was my hero.  She died 11 years ago.  I miss her every day.  

When she died, a tree was planted in her honor.  Just this week, it bloomed, and my heart with it.  Even though I regularly go to the tree to speak with her, when her tree blooms, I feel just that much closer to her.  While I wasn’t looking, my husband caught me speaking to her.  

Mother’s Day is about relationships.  It runs between you and your mother, and between you and those who you’ve mothered. Celebrate those relationships today, and every day.  

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