MOTHER'S DAY MONDAY
It was in the morning while I was doing the laundry in the basement that my other son decided to run down the stairs and crash into the cement wall. He needed to go to the emergency room and get seven stitches over his eye. This is the son who was responsible for repairing missiles on the U.S.S. Nimitz, by the way.
So, most of the day being shot spent in the emergency room of our hospital, it just didn’t seem right to take all the attention away from the son whose birthday we had planned to celebrate that day.“No matter”, I said to him.
“We’ll have your birthday tomorrow, ok?”This started me on the road to confusion, as I can never really remember when his real birthday is now, I always have to stop and think twice.
It became a pattern in our family. If someone’s birthday was on a Tuesday and payday wasn’t until Thursday, we celebrated it on Friday. It was a funny tradition and something they all looked forward to.“When's my birthday this year?” they'd ask me.
Well, this year they did it to me.Since the three children that live here in town are all in the restaurant business, Mother’s Day is a big day and they had to work.
“We’ll do Mother’s Day on Monday night” my daughter said to me.“Come to my house and I’ll cook and we’ll have a party.”
When they were little I used to look forward to the breakfast in bed they would prepare for me every Mother’s Day morning before we went to Church. I knew it would be hard to not have that. But I agreed because they were so anxious to do something for me. It’s been a rough year for all involved, and it was time to celebrate.So we went to my daughter’s house, my sons and I, and it was wonderful.
Decorated in Early American Thrift, she and her boyfriend, along with the friend of another son, were thrilled to have a dinner party, and happy we were all able to be together.The food was tremendous, with home made pasta, home made sauce, fresh baked bread, and many wonderful appetizers. She surely has her father’s hand in the kitchen, he being a Chef. A feast prepared by the three of them, the finishing touch was a pound cake a best friend makes, who happily gave her the recipe. We had coffee and tea and wine and soda, and it was a time I will never forget, sitting and joking with them as friends, and not just my children.
After we said grace, I lifted my glass to them in a toast. It was a special Mother’s Day this year because of special circumstances I am not able to share with you yet. But it was the best Mother’s Day celebration ever, because it was from the heart.My toast was simple but heartfelt and poignant.
“To my children here and afar, may the Lord bless you all. Bless the hands that prepared the meal, bless the hearts that think of me before they say goodnight. Thank you Lord for blessing me with all the people in my life, I am truly grateful.”To my step-daughter Karen in Virginia, my step-daughter Gina in Pennsylvania and my son Richard on the boat somewhere in the Gulf, know that you were at the table with us. We love you and miss you.
Happy Mother’s Day to me. It was the best one I ever had.Mother’s Day Monday. A new tradition.
