Happy Mother’s Day!

The text messages started coming in this morning from well-wishing friends.  I have been reading posts on Facebook, stories on Instagram, and email advertising for the past week or two.  I have met them all with mixed emotions.

I have been blessed with 4 wonderful sons. Ok, I’ll gush about them a little.  James and Joseph have graduated from college, James with a master’s degree, both working in fields that they want to be in. Jack is making his way in the work world and being a productive member of society. Andrew is heading into his senior year of High School and trying to figure out which direction he will go after high school.  I love spending time with my boys, even more so since only Andrew is living at home now.  I am blessed.

Mother’s Day also has me reflecting on my own mom, Theresa. This is my 3rd Mother’s Day without her. See, 3.5 years ago, she was taken from me in an awful house explosion. She died instantly. Mother’s Day is hard for me. I don’t get to call her to give good wishes or thank her for my life anymore. I miss the phone calls, daily phone calls. I miss making plans for the next time we take a trip to meet up or visit with her. I miss telling her all the great things the boys, “Her Boys”, were doing. She loved so BIG!

This last year has been different for me.  2021 was the year to be the adult. I needed to handle the initial, post explosion affairs. I have learned more than I want to know with insurance, probate, personal representatives, and making funeral arrangements.  I have spent the past year and a half grieving. It took a while for me to recognize that I needed to do this. It was just a couple of months ago that I finally ordered my mom’s headstone.  I just couldn't get that part done.  It is ordered now, and I look forward to going to visit her marked gravesite.  BTW, did you know that it takes about 4 – 6 months for a headstone to be engraved and set?!

This holiday comes with many feelings. I’m happy, grateful, and joyful for the 4 boys that made me a mom. I’m also joyful for all the young people I have been able to be a 2nd mom, the “music mom”, or as one of the texts I received today, “mom to many”.  I have the feelings of missing my mom, my grandma, and my sister. But, I also have feelings of joy and gratefulness when I think of them. I had a great relationship with them. We shared so much life together and even if it wasn’t long enough in my eyes, it was full.

So, as this day has progressed, I have shed a couple of tears and laughed a bunch. I smiled many times, thinking of my mom (and my sister and grandma) and of how I am able to spend the day with all 4 boys! If you are missing your mom today, remember all the good times. I like to look for glimpses of my mom throughout the day…a song, something one of my boys says, or just sitting quiet and listening for her voice, “Marguerite, I’m so proud of you.”

-May 12, 2024