We learn first about love from our moms. They protect us and care for us and allow us to stretch their bodies out of shape and make it so their bladders never quite work the same – and they do all that before we’re even born. Then, once we arrive, moms provide the security and safety to get us through those first months when we can’t fend for ourselves. It is through the love of our mothers that we first experience the world.
Obviously, we think moms are pretty important, and we go about trying to put a little Mother’s Day into every day. On this special day, though, we invited all of our contributors to share a little something about their moms – the women who helped make them the great moms they are today.
From Lisa Van De Graaff…
My mother makes everything, really every thing, special. She made clothes for me as a child and matching clothes for my dolls, she taught me to garden and cook and draw and dance by doing it with me side-by-side, and she created memorable celebrations for each of our individual and family achievements. On rainy days, we cooked Snickerdoodles together, on sunny days we had picnics, and every day was filled with her infectious laughter. She was and continues to be a shining example of a person’s capacity for unconditional love of family and dear friends. Somewhere in my 20s, our relationship shifted to a deep and knowing friendship, and now that I am a mother, we are best friends. I treasure my mother. I remember my grandmother telling me that when she held my mother in her arms for the first time, she looked at my mother’s translucent skin and could see and feel that she was a pearl – a rare and natural gem that would bring joy and beauty to the world. Grandma was absolutely right.
From Wanda Morrissey…
I’ve started and deleted this, I don’t know how many times. I can’t seem to find the right words to say how special my mom is to me. My mom was always there for my siblings and I, no matter what. She would go to bat for us when she felt we had been wronged, she would listen when we needed a sympathetic ear, she always had a hug and kiss ready for us and she made sure we never wanted for anything. She felt our hurts, rejoiced in our accomplishments and cheered us on when we needed it. My mom is the most loving, caring, thoughtful person I know. She’s always willing to lend a hand and help in any way she can. Now there’s 2000 kilometres of Canadian highway separating my mom and I and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wish I lived closer to my mom. I miss you, Mom. I hope that I can be as good a mom as you are. I love you, Mom.
From Jennifer Poole…
I come from a family of strong, independent Irish women. My grandma is still going strong at 100 1/2 years old. My mom raised two girls on her own from the time I was 5 until I was 15. She taught my sister and I how to be independent and responsible. She juggled work, home, and family to help ensure we grew up to become the confident women we are today. My sister and I learned by example how to hold our heads high and know that we can accomplish anything we want! You hear so much about troubled kids coming from single parent homes and we were far from perfect but we were good kids who became caring and dedicated adults thanks to our mom.
From Kathy Winn…
Plain and simple, my mom is the most important woman in my life. Even as an adult with a career, family and children of my own, I look to her for guidance, support and friendship. We’ve laughed together and cried together. She’s dropped everything to help me when I needed her, never stopping to ask any questions. She is generous and strong. She will give her all until there is nothing left. As an RN in an emergency room for decades, she works hard and is admired by her peers (and can run circles around those striving to be her peers). And watching her as a grandma to my boys is one of the greatest blessings in my life. In all my life, I never doubt that she will be there for me. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you.
From Danica Sorber…
My mother is important to me because, not only did she survive an incredibly abusive relationship during my childhood, she raised three children on her own despite the struggles of breast cancer and type 2 diabetes. She is a woman with strength beyond human bounds, and a love for her family that cannot be measured in human words. She has given up everything to be a mother, and is still the most generous and kind woman I know. I love my mom—she is woman who helped make me into the woman I am today…a woman who will teach her own daughters the true beauty in strength, perseverance, and love.
From Veronica Ibarra…
My mother is a pillar of strength and practicality. Growing up she would always answer my questions about anything and everything. She was always someone to whom I could turn no matter how nervous or anxious I was about what I needed to talk about. She would always listen to everything I had to say. Sometimes she smiled, sometimes she frowned, but always she listened. The only times she told me what to do were always in relation to chores and school responsibilities, but when it came to my life, my choices, she rarely offered advice. She would provide me with options and information as it related to whatever issue I had at the time then she would look at me in earnest and ask me what I planned to do. I won’t say that it didn’t matter what I decided, but she always supported me. If something didn’t work out then she encouraged me to figure out what I could and move on. Life continues, no matter what. She demonstrates this every day. Some of the things she has endured, like the death of my father leaving her to raise three kids would be testament enough, but she has been through so much more. To tell her story would amaze anyone, yet she wouldn’t see it that way. But for all her strength in the face of adversity and determination to raise her children to be competent, capable individuals, she is also fun and adventurous. She loves art projects, and still sends me care packages full of stickers and activities for my kids and me. She puts confetti in cards, and sticks out her tongue while blowing out if she thinks someone is being pig-headed or boring. She taught me many things, and teaches me still.
From Shadra & Tiana …
We have written about our mom, Linda Lund, several times. She remains one of the biggest inspirations in our lives and in the way we mother our own children. Mom passed away in 2006, but her legacy lives on in us and in our daughters. We know that we would not be the moms we are today without her.
