On the joy path

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

Today is Mother’s day, so - of course - our joy focus is MOM!

We all have a mother, and many have more than one mother figure. I invite you to spend some time joyfully focused on your mother today. If that is too painful for you for any reason, I invite you to joyfully focus on motherhood in general and where you see the beauty in it.

I have been truly blessed when it came to my Mom. I have a loving Mother who stayed home with my brother and I and focused on being a good mother.  When I have been asked the question: “What have you always known to be true?” My answer is that “I am loved.” I have always felt and known that, and it was based in the love of my parents.

If you are a Mother, may you be surrounded with the love and joy that you have shared with your children! Many blessing for a beautiful day of feeling the love!

If you care to read on I will share something I wrote for my mother last year -

On this Mother’s Day,

My heart is with you, even though I am hundreds of miles away.

There is no distance in the love I have for you.

I spent some time remembering my childhood,

And many – not all - of the special memories you created for me.

You were always an artsy, creative mother:

Making special birthday parties for me,

With cakes any decorator would envy.

You took classes on cake decorating,

Allowing me to play with the icing,

Creating gardens of icing on a wax paper covered table.

Always a room mother at school,

Making fun for everyone.

Leading my Girl Scout troop

In all types of wonderful activities,

God’s eyes, macramé, and planting flowers.

Using the sewing machine,

For clothes or garments for the priests at church…

I remember the slip covers you made

For the old ski boat, from fabric patterned with candies.

You would bike with Matt and I to ceramics class,

To keep us busy that summer in Salem,

Even when I was away at college,

I could count on you for cards and treats to keep my spirits up.

Then you topped it all by planning my wedding;

Making my veil, the unity candle…

Putting everything together perfectly and

Decorating the reception hall.

I have many animal memories with you.

I guess you were zoo keeper, whether you wanted to be or not:

Puppies in the garage,

Feeding ducks by the pond,

Feeding sea gulls on Sanibel,

Dropping food from the dock for the multitudes of fish,

You jumping in the car to chase down Buckwheat,

Pet turtles in the basement who loved to eat fruits and veggies,

A couple different bunnies,

That awful cacophony from the doves –

until we turned them over to Mrs. McCleish

My hamster, Daniel Boone, who lost his tail

from my attempt to catch him when he ran free.

Alligators behind the camper,

Ozzie the octopus, climbing up the window above the sink in the camper,

The turtle behind the fence, Dad had you poke it with a stick,

then you swung it around when it bit down,

The duck family that found a haven in our back yard,

And, of course,

Sammie, our first “in the house” dog.

And, then there are lots of food memories:

I remember your awesome spaghetti,

made with a bottle of wine in your hand,

Yummy apple cake, fruit salad made with soda,

An orange in the toe of my Christmas stocking,

You packing picnic meals for evening ski trips on the river,

Or cooking dinner in the camper

parked where we could watch the water,

The orange tuna salad you made especially for me,

And, well,

I won’t go into all the disgusting foods you made me try.

I remember dinners out usually meant pizza

– hamburger and mushroom,

Pizza hut with the juke box playing,

or those huge, deep pizzas at Pantera’s…

Sunday mornings at Nita’s, - what was that old man’s name? -

or the Pancake Ranch, (where I usually ate a tuna sandwhich)

And sometimes selling donuts with the CYO in the school basement,

There were lots of summer evenings getting cones at the cone barn,

Camping out, roasting marshmallows

– you would always eat the burned ones,

First stop on Sanibel to get those giant New York subs,

Ice cream at the Dairy queen, watching lizards run around,

And my first fried shrimp on Sanibel – when I cleaned my plate!

These memories are precious to me:

Sitting in the pew right behind the Barr’s every Sunday morning,

Having the priests over to eat,

Or going to Father Porter’s lake house,

You teaching Sunday school and allowing me to help,

Taking Matt and I along to the shrine,

Giving us a great example of always helping others,

Camping, just the four of us, or with friends,

Friends made on vacation who became like family,

Pat & Reg, Madge & Burke,

We spent lots of time biking

Even more time water skiing,

Where you preferred to watch the rest of us take turns,

You driving the boat for Dad, even when it made you nervous,

Shelling on Sanibel, you could spend hours in one mound of tiny shells,

Driving the island and stopping to get air plants for you,

Playing UNO at home or in the camper,

The usual group each New Year’s Eve,

We would bang your pots to celebrate,

You and Dad moving stuff out of the way to dance in the living room.

As a mother myself, I can now look back and realize what an absolutely wonderful job you did raising me.

(I actually turned out pretty good for as rotten as I was.)

Where did you get all the energy to create so many fun and loving moments?

(While taking care of all the behind the scenes stuff that is invisible to a child)

I thank you for it all, Mom.

Thanks for loving me, putting up with me, and adding special touches throughout my life!

I have been specially blessed to have you as my mother.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I love you!

Steph