Mother's Day

From Reconciling Ministries Network's
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A nice Mother's Day today, beginning with a Skype conversation with our daughter in Japan. She had a few days off and was relieved for that. While she was doing errands this week, one little girl stared at her until the mother realized and apologized. She lives in a part of Tokyo that has a student population but isn't a tourist destination, so the little girl may have never seen a Westerner. Our two cats woke up when they heard Emily's voice and began to circle the laptop, sniffing each other's butts along the way...

When I was away at school, years ago, my mother asked me to send her my daily schedule, so she'd know what I was doing during the day. She meant this in a sweet way--she took joy and pride in my activities--but it still gives me the creeps to think about. I stopped doing that after a semester or two and she was disappointed. If I suggested that Emily do such a thing, she'd rightly laugh at me. Mom and I had a good relationship but there were codependent aspects that we worked on.

Mom has been gone three-and-a-half years now. Facebook has exploded today and yesterday with friends' pictures of their mothers, living and deceased, and a few sadder statuses about estranged relationships.

Beth and I went to church, where our pastor thoughtfully offered a caveat about the more painful aspects of the day while also affirming the mothers and other caregivers of the congregation. Afterward, we went to a favorite Indian restaurant that we hadn't gone to for a long time. That was her request for Mother's Day, and then we came home, relaxed and smelling of spices. It's also the end of the school year, which comes with other kinds of relaxing and happy aspects. Beth is making summer travel arrangements even as we speak.