Mother’s Day is my favourite holiday of the year. Truly. Unlike other holidays, which can be fraught with spectacular spending or family drama, Mother’s Day is one big love-in. We all have mothers, or are mothers, or know mothers, and each and every one of us knows that mothers rock. Mothers are the unifying foundation of the human condition. They are at the heart of everything.
There seems to be a universal acknowledgment that Mother’s Day is the least we can do to say thank you. I have yet to run across even one person who begrudges it. Why this genuine outpouring of affection? Mothers sacrifice themselves for their children, bandage scraped knees and soothe hurt feelings, keep life running in a million different ways. They get up at all hours with babies, stay up late waiting for teenagers, and thrill at grandchildren to start this cycle all over again. Mothers are their children’s #1 cheerleader, and are proud beyond measure. Mothers love truly, madly, deeply.
I was very lucky indeed to have a mother who was all this and then some. I’ve been doubly lucky to have children of my own to put into practice all that she taught me: be kind. give back to the world. love animals. be authentic. have fun. be happy.
My own mother, circa 1962
Motherhood inspires us to be the best version of ourselves, to rise above the petty and to lead by example. Of course we’re not perfect. We lose our tempers, become frazzled, and need an occasional fortifying glass of wine to get through it all. But in the balance, no-one in the world, no-one, is quite like her. Who else comes close?
While mothers would generally agree that the rest of the year is about everybody else, on this one day of the year, it’s about us. This day is about gratitude for the gargantuan job of raising a good and decent human being. Whether that gratitude comes in the form of a handwritten card, time spent together, or a simple hug, no-one in the whole world will be happier with these gifts than the woman who gave you life, and then showed you how to live it.
