I always took Mother's Day for granted, as I think a lot of us do sometimes. Another dictated holiday in which society tells you it is time to love someone. Don't get me wrong I love my mom to the moon and back, I just don't need a certain day to tell her that. Over the last year and a half Mother's Day has taken on a new meaning to me and let me tell you why...which means we'll have to go all the way back to the beginning.
First off, a little bit about the glorious woman whom I refer to as "Mama Bear." My mom was the person who always wanted to have kiddos. Always. Although for a very long time my parents were unable to get pregnant, fertility treatments and the works yielded no progress. I don't know what my mom said to the big man upstairs, but it worked and within a span of two years she had two tiny monsters running around the house (okay, one. I was clearly the good child). Fast forward a few years, my parents decided to call it quits, (that's okay, their prerogative), a lady who is raising two kids alone, without a job, and somehow making everything work. On a side note, my brother and I were always up to something, whether that was testing out a new skate ramp, or playing street hockey in the neighborhood, all the way down to being chased by a neighbor while playing ding-dong-ditch. The divorce was hard on everyone, something like that changes you. I don't know how that woman did not lose her sanity over our ridiculous amount of shenanigans, broken bones, and calls from the principal's office.
Let's jump forward another couple of years to me leaving for college. I went to school only two hours away from home, not far, but my mother managed to attend every single home soccer game that I had. Whether I started or not. Oh, did I mentioned that she did this AFTER attending my brother's soccer game as well, four hours north of where I was?
My mother was diagnosed with cancer last year. Cancer is something that I hope you, as my reader and people everywhere, never have the pleasure of meeting. Cancer is vile and emotionally destroying, not to mention physically destroying. While she had her moments of break-down and question, she fought through it. Even to this day she is feeling and experiencing the pain that cancer brought to her life. Medications that make her sick, but she manages to keep pushing through.
This woman has suffered so much throughout her life, she's dealt with a divorce, kids, who I know gave her gray hair (don't tell her I said that), and she's battled cancer. She is someone who does everything for others and never asks for anything in return, in fact it is actually banned at our house to give Mother's Day gifts. She works extremely hard to make sure that my brother and I are taken care of, on top of pushing us to chase our dreams. She has helped me chase my dreams, even if it meant leaving for awhile, or moving away, she is always there telling me to go for it.
My mom has supported us through college and graduate schools, she has allowed my brother and I to make decisions that probably weren't the best at the time, but she realized we needed to find out for ourselves, and learn from it. She is one of the most supportive human beings that I have ever met. In fact, she is spending her Mother's Day helping me study for finals. Words cannot express the amount of gratitude that I have for this woman. It is truly my honor to have been raised by her and to know that she is always around whenever I need her. She has held my hand through many challenging and painful experiences, she has been the person I run to when my heart has been broken, and she is the woman who I am happy to call my best friend. She has given her life to my brother and I, so that we can be successful.
This Mother's Day takes on new meaning because I have her here with me, a luxury that I didn't think I would get to experience again. So once you've wiped the tears off your face (which I am doing at the moment) go out and call your mom or give her a big fat kiss. I think a lot of times that we take our mothers for granted, their selflessness and fortitude. Today is that day to really NOT take them for granted.
To all those mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day. Know that you are loved and appreciated, even though as kids we forget to show it sometimes. To my mom, I thank you for the opportunities you have given me, the lessons you have taught me, and the love you have shown me because without you in my corner cheering me on, there's no way I'd be the woman that I am today. So, I thank you for that.
May all you mothers enjoy your special day, you deserve it!
-j
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