Every year is a little different on Mother’s day. This year, on Mother’s Day, we both appreciate mom and also mark the one-year anniversary of the death of my dear stepfather, Joe – mom’s loving husband of nearly 40 years.
My family has sadness and appreciation as we continue to mourn and also celebrate Mom’s strength and love for her husband and all of us, too. We wish for her to find a new normal and pass out of acute grief. Mom and Joe loved one another for nearly forty years and this is no easy journey for her or for us. I know I take comfort in Joe’s spirit being with me and I have no doubt that he is watching over mom on this Mother’s Day and every other day.
We can’t lose sight of the strength and love of our moms even as other sad and happy things go on around us. Before we even had the ability to self-reflect on a single thing, our moms were taking care of business. Only as we grow older, and have some experiences of our own, can we even see let alone appreciate what our moms did for us.
My mom largely raised me as a single parent after the divorce from my dad and I never fully appreciated her sacrifice until I got older. There were times in my cluelessness as a child that I even got angry that I didn’t have a thing. I was no different than any other kid that just wants what they want without any idea of what your mom had to do, or give up, for you. I look back now with a different lens and can fully see and appreciate what mom did for me - what she gave up so I could go to a good school and be able to participate in activities and trips. So, that I had as good a childhood as I could possibly have.
This Mother’s Day I will sit in the knowledge that I am where I am in large part because of what my mom did for me. And, I hope she finds peace and a new normal as she navigates this next phase of her life without her beloved Joe.