Word to Your Mother

Some mothers spend their Mother's Day at a nice dinner. Others, are left alone while the kids are taken out. Still others are treated to visits by grandchildren, trips to the spa and/or a vacation of sorts. When we were younger, my brother and I would get our mother exactly what she asked for on Mother's Day: a six-pack of Mountain Dew, Rasberry Pop Tarts and 4 hours of not having her children around (or atleast quiet) Since we've both flown the coop and this is the first official year of neither of us spending the day with her, I wondered what it would be that my mother would do. After all, for half of my life she's been a housewife and for the other half a single mother. She never wanted anything those other mothers asked for on Mother's Day. No spa, no fancy meals, not even a trip to see a movie. So how is my mother spending Mother's Day? Weeding, chasing after her puppy (who has an affinity for underwear) and then reading a magazine- the same thing she does every Sunday. Except today, there's a bunch of Stargazer Lilies on her kitchen table. And after all these years, it makes sense. All my mother ever wanted was the freedom to do what she wanted on Mother's day.

**I should mention that 19 years ago, her Mother's Day consisted of having my brother and every 6 years she forgets Mother's Day so my brother can have his birthday when they fall on the same Sunday. **