Long Hollow

My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune.

~Graycie Harmon 

When you think about it, life is so very fragile, so touch and go, and there are so many things that can go wrong – that do go wrong sometimes – that it's a miracle any of us are even here. 

When you think about the pain of childbirth, the exhaustion of taking care of an infant, a toddler, a teenager, it's a miracle any of us are born, much less survive into adulthood. 

So all of us are lucky just to be alive. But let's face it … some of us are luckier than others, and I think I'm one of them, because I'm my mother's daughter.

I was born to a mother who loved her children with God's love – selfless and unconditional. The four of us had the security of that soft cushion of love at all times, no matter what we did.

Now, it didn't mean we got everything we wanted, or we could do anything we wanted. Love … real motherly love … means placing boundaries, setting limits, doling out consequences. She let us know when we crossed those lines. I felt the sting of spankings and felt the heart-wrenching pain of guilt, and I knew its source was Love.

Like Mary Poppins' spoonful of sugar that helped the medicine go down, my mother taught us by example that Laughter makes life easier. It sweetens the inevitable sour. We can't foresee or control what life has in store for us, but we sure as hell can laugh about it!

On Mother's Day and every day, I thank God for my beautiful, loving mother, and for her laughter which will live in my heart forever …

...  for my wonderful mother-in-law, who raised 9 boys into wonderful men, and who welcomed me into her heart as a daughter…

…for my beloved grandmothers, amazing women who overcame the heartbreaks and adversity and hardships of life with grace and laughter… who taught me the secrets to survival and happiness…

.. for my friends, kids, and family who sent me so much love and support on this first Mother's Day since my mother passed. 

(Tulips from my sister and her husband!)

To all mothers, in all shapes and forms, hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. To those who can't be with their own mothers this weekend, or with their sons or daughters, remember their love is always with them, inside and out.

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.

~ Abraham Lincoln 

(A slightly edited re-post, but still sincere in my wishes! Happy Mother's Day! I was blessed to spend the day with all of my kids, the originals and the add-ons, and to help celebrate other mothers and their mothers. I have been blown away with the messages and expressions of love and support. A friend even played "Lily of the Valley" in honor of my mom after church services this morning. It has truly helped. May God bless each and every one of you, and your mothers!)