“ Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. ” Kahlil Gibran
The bridge to life and afterlife
As I write this post, on the eve of another Happy Mother’s Day celebration in the USA, I am struck by the fact that 20 year ago today, on May 9th 1989, my father passed away. The juxtaposition of celebrating my mother’s life with memories of my father’s death is both powerful and ironic. Ironic because we live in a world where we tend to keep such matters, happy and sad events, separate.
Birth is a bridge to life. Motherhood and Mother’s Day are definitive reminders to honor mothers everywhere; biological, adoptive, step moms, god moms, mother nature and the divine mother. Death is also a bridge to life; the afterlife. We are all constantly crossing bridges which create consequences that become part of our lives.
“I remember my Mothers prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all of my life…” Abraham Lincoln
Boatloads and Rivers of prayers
As I honor my mom’s love for birthing me, I honor my dad’s love too — they were equal partners in my birth. My parents prayed for my safe delivery through the birth canal, nurtured me and showered me with rivers of prayers as I matured from childhood to adulthood. Their love was restrained but unequivocal. So on this occasion, I plan to share vignettes of my mother’s and my father’s love with my children. I also pray for our collective, divine protection and, in a symbolic gesture of goodwill, I mentally push the boat out to sea to bless others.
“The heart which is not struck by the sweet smiles of an infant is still asleep.” Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mother cares: From the dawn of infancy to the dusk of aging
If one could have the prescience to celebrate our parents lives more often, then looking back after they are gone might have less of a sting for us. From the dawn of infancy to the dusk of aging, our birth and lives are conjoined, like twins, with death and memories… It is imperative then, that as we go about living and sharing our lives, we remember not only who gave birth to us on this Happy Mother’s Day, but also how much endless effort mothers make to keep households running.
Isn’t it telling that when Salary.com calculated the time mothers spend performing 10 typical job functions, it found that a stay-at home-mom’s earnings would be an annual salary of $122,732? This is not exhaustive as we all know that Mothers are on call 24/7 and the cost of such selfless, endless service is… immeasurable. Priceless.
“Who fed me from her gentle breast, And hushed me in her arms to rest, And on my cheek sweet kisses prest? My Mother.” Anne Taylor
Love's reach knows not about infinite distances
Is love’s reach infinite? I live quite a distance from my mom and sometimes wonder about the impact it has had on my relationship and/or psychic bond to her. I love my mother and dad; it is implicit and I know there are expected behaviors that ought to correspond with this declaration. The reasons for the distance are simple, the solutions are complex. Yet, even with the distance and my parents absence, love’s vacuum is filled. It is filled by the love I share with my children, my siblings and my friendships near and far. It is filled with loving memories of my mom and dad; both real and invented.
The sweetest sounds to mortals given are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven. (W. G. Brown) ♫Thx Mom♫ Wishing everyone a very Happy Mother’s Day #♥!!
The view from here
As we celebrate Mother’s Day across the nation, may I suggest performing a charitable act? Empower others. Support and nurture a small female or male business owner with a Kiva gift certificate. This is a perfect gift because by giving a Kiva.org Mother’s Day Loan certificate, you help support many other very hard working moms worldwide.
Another fun way to show MOM appreciation is to create a CNNBC Mother of the Year video offered by the good folks at www.MomsRising.org. It is meant for the awesome moms on your list. It is very easy, just enter their names and email addresses and voila! Try it even with your name and you will quickly see how celebrity and seeing your name in lights can get addictive – heck, all moms deserve the accolades.
Are you a blogger mom? Do you get invited to PR and Marketing events? Do you see a diverse representation of mom bloggers? If you don’t know enough about this, bloggist Kim Moldofsky points out in an article, that companies need to engage moms of diverse backgrounds…
Let’s hope that as we celebrate the richness of our diverse experiences with mom and motherhood, marketers and brands will remember to invite diversity into the mix … invite us all to those blogger retreats. Moms come in all shapes and colors; everyone can benefit from ads.
What do you think? Happy Mother’s Day Y’all!
Photos: Hudson River and TappanZee Bridge, Westchester County, NY.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
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