Sunday, May 10, 2009
On Mother's Day
My son had been asking for Sunday pancakes since Friday. Early This morning he woke me up with, " mommy, when are you making the pancakes?" I sat up in bed thinking of a way to get out of it and then it hit me. "Hey its Mothers Day! I should be asking you when are you making the pancakes!" He ran out the room and yelled for his sister to come to the kitchen. About a half hour later my special breakfast was served. A plate of soggy pancakes drenched in syrup and a tall glass of iced tea so sweet it made me thirsty. I loved every drop.
I think of my own mother today. I wish she was alive to see her grandchildren. So they could make her a special breakfast. She would have loved them so much. She would probably be shocked to see me with three kids and doing a good job raising them too!
She would adore the little princess who is so smart, loves school and flower print dresses. She would have loved to put her hair in pony-tails and would have complained about the dreadlocks on her pretty little granddaughter. She would have taken her to museums and they would have read books. My daughter would recite poems to her and she would call everyone and make her recite to them too. I could just see it now.
The philoshopher tween could have learned so much from her. She was a teacher and a natural educator. I can just imagine the kind of talks the two of them would have about life and being a black boy in this world. She would have taught him so much history. Oh and she liked to talk about sexuality and your body. It drove me crazy when I was younger but I appreciate it now. I try to do the same with my children but without being so explicit, they would want to run away instead of listening.
I often look at the baby and think' "If only she could have seen you", and I shake my head and smile.
We never had an adult relationship. Mother to daughter, woman to woman, mother to mother. We never had talks about marriage, children, money, career, being a woman. I miss that even though I never had it.
She never got to enjoy being a woman after raising her child. She never got to enjoy that freedom. She never got to spoil her grand children and then send them back to me to deal with the consequences of the rotten little ones. I miss that for her.
Today, on Mother's Day I am thankful. Thankful that I had a mother who was so wonderful though only for a moment in time; she was only forty when she left this earth. I'm so thankful for what she gave me to pass on to my children. I am so thankful for my children and my husband. A family of my own to make me a special breakfast on Mother's Day.
Oh! What a lovely little bit of sunshine
Especially when a smile is on your face
I'm so thankful and so proud to call you mine
You're like a brand new day!
