Happy Mother's Day to all the lovely women in my life. It doesn't matter if you are an actual mother or not. Just being a daughter of Mother Nature is all we need to be collective Mothers in the Universe. Women...we are something really special. Crazy sometimes for sure....(hahaha) but strong and amazing and talented and beautiful beyond belief in so many ways.
i have soooooooo many wonderful women in my life. i think having lost my own mother so young, i was blessed by the Universe with the gift of attracting, recognizing and nurturing really amazing friendships with some outstanding women throughout my life. My own mother had much to do with many of these connections as well. My mom was a farm girl from South Dakota who married a Naval officer to get the heck out of there. She was so proud of me for being brave enough at 18 to move to the East Coast alone following the band i loved so much (bonus points if you know who that was) and for being secure enough to follow my dreams and take that chance. But really, now that i look back, she was hardly any different. Sadly, she married a man who wasn't the right match for her to get out...but she had me and my brother and ended up building an independent life she was proud of. She was very open minded and forward thinking...so far ahead of her time. After divorcing my Dad in 1980, she put herself through grad school and got her MSW. She started out in geriatrics, working for a hospice organization first and then VNA. She was on the board for Planned Parenthood and won many awards for her services for that organization - which at 12 or 13 - I had no idea the kind of meaningful and important work she did. When AIDS started to really raise its ugly head in Spokane, she shifted her focus to that and became one of the most preeminent social workers in the field. She immersed herself in the field and the heart-ache that accompanied it. All her clients were very sick, in so much pain and their lives falling apart around them. Mostly still gay men at the time, she stood in as the "best man" many wedding ceremonies, ate meals with their families, helped them with pain mgmt, lack of benefits and most importantly...to gather the last tragic bits of their lives and their dignity during a time of much prejudice, anger and shame. I don't know how you social workers or home health care workers do it. It's such a heart breaking career. But one that is sooooooo important and under-valued (and underpaid) by society. i know i couldn't do it. Anyway, because of my mother and her open mind and heart, my brother and i were given opportunities to know so many wonderful people far beyond the narrow confines of our teenage brains at the time, but whom i realize now were gifts that she created to surround us and help mold us long after she passed. Because of her, i have been adopted by so many strong, beautiful people whose descriptions include authors, artists, time travelers, witches, CEOs, psychic mediums, hippies turned activists....friends, mentors and many of whom are MOTHERS. So thank you, Mom! You were one of a kind. I am blessed to still have her mother here with me at age 91 and still in S.D. with whom i'm very close and for whom i am very grateful. She is a beautiful matriarch, great grandmother (my kids call her GG) and role model for my children - and although we're missing a generation with us on Earth - we're carrying on her message of love. And for that, i feel so blessed.
So thank you and Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely, beautiful women in my life. You know who you are! Your love, support, and commaraderie make (me and) the world go 'round.
xoxoxoxox t
*picture of an Iris that my daughter looked up on Wiki this morning. Irises were my mom's fave flower and last year i planted rhizomes for her in my yard and they are about to bloom, either today or tomorrow. Which, as my daughter pointed out, is just perfect for Mother's Day! It is, isn't it????? Life is a beautiful thing...enjoy it!
