HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY 2013

I can’t believe I haven’t yet begun to heal from losing my little mother almost a year and a half ago. But this year, I didn’t want that to stop me from acknowledging all the other mothers I know.

Kanga and Roo, from Winnie The Pooh, whom my mother and I have always loved.

I always think of something my godsend New York friend, Lauren Bennett, said to me last year in the very early Spring. I was staying with her in Manhattan for a couple of days, and I was taking a subway to a different section to take my sister for afternoon tea for her birthday. (I know that may surprise some of you, but I always believe in “do unto others…” even when they don’t. I may be a fool sometimes, but I don’t know any other way of living.)

I had brought only a sweatshirt to town with me, thinking it would continue to be the warm weather it was the day before, when I was at my house in Brooklyn. So, Lauren lent me a fabulous Spring coat. We left her house together; she was walking me to the subway and then going somewhere herself.

I realized that my hands were freezing, and mentioned it, never expecting anyone to ever listen to my complaints really. All of a sudden, Lauren handed me her pair of beautiful gloves! I protested that she’d need them herself, and she explained that she’d rather I take them. I asked how she could be so thoughtful, and without skipping a beat, she explained simply, “I’m a mother.”

That story is choking me up even as I write it. Even with no kids myself, I got what she meant. And it made me feel less guilty about accepting the much-desired-at-that-time gloves.

So, to all you female sacrificers for your families, I wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day. And children, please cherish your moms as I always have mine. And step up to the plate, even if it’s for only this one day of the year. I can’t bear for any mother to be disappointed.