Happy Mother’s Day to All

Every May when Mother’s Day rolls around, anyone and everyone who has something to sell pushes the message to remember Mom by buying her something. Cards. Flowers. Jewelry. Perfume. Take her out to dinner. In the time before cell phones made calling your mom free, the phone company would nudge you to forget about long distance rates and call your mother.

It’s the one day of the year that’s supposed to honor our Mothers—something we should be doing every single day because we literally wouldn’t be here without them—and yet they all get it wrong. Mothers don’t want you to spend money buying them gifts. The gift they want is to know that even though they weren’t perfect, you know they tried their best, and if you love you Mom half as much as she loves you, she is a happy woman. Those gifts can’t be bought. They have to come from your heart.

I’ve written so many things over the years about my Mother, it’s hard to find new things to say sometimes. I know my mother would understand. I can hear her voice in my head whispering, “It’s okay, Lisi. I know you love me.” And since life is making it hard to write something new for my mom right now, I’ve decided to share a few poems from previous Mother’s Days. The first two were written with my mother in mind, the third is my Mother’s Day wish for all of you.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I Am My Mother's Daughter

I am my mother's daughter.
 It's a unique bond that comes
 from living inside someone else.
 There are things you absorb
 through osmosis as you feel
 the heartbeat of love surround you.
 I did not want to leave  
 that safe haven;
 my mother's womb
 did not want to let me go,
 but in the end it had no choice
 and I was pushed into a world
 of bright lights and noise,
 and put into the safety of loving arms  
 that would never let me go.
 
 
 She taught me everything
 through discipline and love,
 with kindness and by example.
 There was right;
 there was wrong;
 and there was forgiveness.
 She was the critic  
 I always wanted to please.
 She was my champion,
 fierce with her pride.
 She was love personified.
 
 
 I know her life had pain and sadness,
 but those were secrets she kept hidden.
 I'm sure there were dreams unfulfilled,
 and things she wished she might
 have done differently,
 but she never spoke of them.
 She denied their existence,
 running away to embrace
 the people she loved.
 
 
 I am my mother's daughter.
 She was far from perfect,
 and so am I.
 I say this, not as a bad thing,
 but as simple fact.
 For better or worse,
 I am a part of her that lives on.
 I will shout her praises to the sky
 and thank the universe for the blessing
 of being my mother's daughter.
©2021

Mother's Day Isn't the Same

Mother's Day isn't
the same since you left me with
out your loving arms
to hold me close in dark times.
Your love made my world better.


Your example fills
me with hope but Mother's Day
just isn't the same.
I know I don't measure up
to the woman who raised me.


I hope my daughters
feel the same way about me.
May they know I tried
to give them wings to fly high
enough to weather all storms.


Mother's Day isn't
the same since you went away,
but your love lives on.

©2020

A Mother's Day Wish

Whether you're a new mom or one whose children are grown,
whether you have given birth or adopted your children,
whether you are a grandmother or hoping to be one,
Happy Mother's Day.

If you were blessed with a loving support system
or raised your children on your own,
if you're an aunt, or a cousin, or a sibling, or a friend,
who stepped up when a mother was needed,
Happy Mother's Day.

For those who have lost their mothers,
for the mothers who have lost children,
for those yearning to be mothers, but are unable,
for those whose mother might have been less than they needed,
this barrage of Happy Mother's Days can be painful.
Know that you are not alone, 
that we care, and be comforted.

©2023