Thanks, Mom!

I was remiss last week in my posting diligence - I was busy sucking up time with my kids.  I had missed them, you see, after grown up weekend - and took some extra time to revel in all things Mom...which brings me to this upcoming Mother's Day.

I've been thinking about what this day meant to me before these little rays of shining light came into my life, what it means to me now and what I really truly want for my special moments.  I can remember planning things - gifts or events or brunches for my own mother and wistfully thinking, "When I'm a Mom, this day is going to be soooo fabulous."  I find the day ends up being much more harried, stressed and frenzied than most other days as we try to cram his mother, my mother, her mother, their mother, its mother and any other mother on the face of the planet into our day.  I end up day dreaming....

I think of fat babies who smell like cookies and powder and love.  I find myself reliving first giggles and those first tentative "Mama"s.  I imagine future door slamming and "This hurts me more than it hurts you".  And I wish for silly moments crowded on my huge bed with funny faces, happy laughter, the world's greatest huggies and my family...to go on forever.

I know Moms who have loved & lost.  I'm familiar with Moms who are gone and will never be forgotten.  Moms to be and Moms who will cry over never being.  And I'm especially fond of my own mom.

She's this amazing kook, who has no idea what she's really worth.  I am absolutely certain she is the only person on earth to ever: earn my love, not deserve my hate, endure my wrath, pick up my broken pieces, foster my dreams, sooth my broken heart, suffer my disdain, combat my ridicule, provide me with a sense of worth and quietly know all about me - successfully.  Who else in this lifetime could accomplish that?  Only someone truly special.

It's with that said that I've come to realize over the years that Mother's Day isn't something fabulous.  It's about a lingering hug, and an exchanged glance that can speak more in three seconds than anyone could begin to put in words in the rest of a lifetime...and a carefully whispered, "I love you."