Making Mother’s Day Memorable, Part Two, by Jacqueline Seewald

Last week in Part One of this blog, I wrote about the origins of Mother’s Day along with different ways we can make the day memorable.

On Mother’s Day we honor mothers, grandmothers, even great grandmothers. We make this a special day for them in a variety of ways, by visiting, by sharing a meal together, by sending or giving cards, gifts, flowers, plants. Anna Jarvis, the American founder of Mother’s Day, is quoted as saying in 1908 that printed cards mean nothing “except you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.” So if you’re sending or giving a card, make certain you include a personal message. Even just a phone call is generally appreciated. This connection is important for both child and parent.

For many of us, who have lost mothers, we wish to honor their memory as well. We recall their love and devotion. My own close relationship with my mother is often reflected in my writing. Even my latest YA novel THE DEVIL AND DANNA WEBSTER which is classified as a romance has just as much to do with a mother daughter relationship and family values.

I will spend Mother’s Day with my sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and my husband. I consider myself very fortunate. We’ll  share lunch together. And I will enjoy their company. But I will also remember my own mother, someone I never forget, a woman who died too early.

Some years ago, I wrote a poem that was published in a lovely anthology entitled WISDOM OF OUR MOTHERS, edited by Eric Bowen. It seems fitting to share that poem for this holiday.

Mother's Day

Mother--

moldering in the earth these many years,

how much I miss you.

As I stare at uneaten oatmeal

thickening in old bowls,

memory washes over me

like Wolfe 's eternal river,

a beckoning brook

meandering through timeless shoals

and mossy, macerated rocks.

Mother's Day should be special.

I have it on the good authority of every greeting card.

Mother--why do they refuse to eat their oatmeal?

What would be your words of wisdom?

Don't throw out the love with the oatmeal?

Part of me was buried with you.

Part of you lives on in me--

Mother.