Is that title too subtle? I've been accused of being overly subtle before. Anyway...
On Thursday, I popped into Target before heading into the office. I needed to pick up a pack of boys' undershirts for my daughter's kindergarten art project, and due to a ridiculously busy work schedule, this was the only time I could do it. That was the only thing I needed*, but, I ended up snaking through the aisles picking up odds and ends because, well, Target.
After fifteen minutes, I'd loaded my basket with bathing suits for the kids (because they always run out of their sizes by June, no matter what their sizes are), Scooby Doo underpants that I will use as a bribe for the Little Guy (who is showing ZERO interest in using the potty), and some shredded fruit & veggie gummy snacks that I am hoping will appeal to the kids. They have a serious addiction to the toxic sugar bomb version of fruit snacks, and I can just HEAR the things clawing cavities into their teeth.
The clock was ticking, though, and I had to get to the office. I headed toward the checkout, which is located across from the greeting card selection. There were a bunch of people buzzing around the section. Weird, right?
And then it hit me...
Mother's Day. This is the annual ritual of last-minute card shoppers, elbowing each other away from THE PERFECT blend of flowers and puppies and acrostics.
I don't have a card to buy, or a phone call to make, or a Sunday brunch to plan. I mean, I do, for my mother-in-law, who is possibly the best mother-in-law to have when it comes to feeling like an adopted daughter. But the only way that I have of honoring the woman who soothed me when I was sick, who made me my favorite dinners on my birthdays, who hugged me so hard that I didn't think I could breathe sometimes, is to take flowers to her resting place. And to write this, to make it known how much she meant, and continues to mean, and how much I miss her.
Mother's Day for me, for the next few years (I think) will be longing for my mother. I will bask in the nice things that my kids do for me, and for the cards and the seedlings and the traced hand prints. But I think, for awhile, there will be this shadow over it, because I will not be doing the same thing for someone else.
*needed = had to be acquired by a certain deadline, not that a child would strut around nude without this particular purchase.
On Thursday, I popped into Target before heading into the office. I needed to pick up a pack of boys' undershirts for my daughter's kindergarten art project, and due to a ridiculously busy work schedule, this was the only time I could do it. That was the only thing I needed*, but, I ended up snaking through the aisles picking up odds and ends because, well, Target.
After fifteen minutes, I'd loaded my basket with bathing suits for the kids (because they always run out of their sizes by June, no matter what their sizes are), Scooby Doo underpants that I will use as a bribe for the Little Guy (who is showing ZERO interest in using the potty), and some shredded fruit & veggie gummy snacks that I am hoping will appeal to the kids. They have a serious addiction to the toxic sugar bomb version of fruit snacks, and I can just HEAR the things clawing cavities into their teeth.
The clock was ticking, though, and I had to get to the office. I headed toward the checkout, which is located across from the greeting card selection. There were a bunch of people buzzing around the section. Weird, right?
And then it hit me...
Mother's Day. This is the annual ritual of last-minute card shoppers, elbowing each other away from THE PERFECT blend of flowers and puppies and acrostics.
I don't have a card to buy, or a phone call to make, or a Sunday brunch to plan. I mean, I do, for my mother-in-law, who is possibly the best mother-in-law to have when it comes to feeling like an adopted daughter. But the only way that I have of honoring the woman who soothed me when I was sick, who made me my favorite dinners on my birthdays, who hugged me so hard that I didn't think I could breathe sometimes, is to take flowers to her resting place. And to write this, to make it known how much she meant, and continues to mean, and how much I miss her.
Mother's Day for me, for the next few years (I think) will be longing for my mother. I will bask in the nice things that my kids do for me, and for the cards and the seedlings and the traced hand prints. But I think, for awhile, there will be this shadow over it, because I will not be doing the same thing for someone else.
*needed = had to be acquired by a certain deadline, not that a child would strut around nude without this particular purchase.
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