Honoring All Mothers

A few years back, I sort of agreed that Mothers' Day was actually a day to celebrate all women.  Mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, nieces, teachers, friends, "those who mother" etc.

Then, I had a child, and I learned what a mother is.

And now, I disagree -- it is not a day for all women.

It IS a day for all MOTHERS.  And motherhood can take many forms.

But there are women who are not mothers; who have chosen a life of not being maternal, and who do not mother those around them.  Mothers' Day is not about them.

Mothers' Day IS about Mothers.

In church on Sunday, our Pastor read a letter by Amy Young entitled An Open Letter to Pastors -- a letter about Mothers' Day from the perspective of a non-mother.  Her letter said a lot, and you can google if you wish to read the the entire contents, and her letter had some great points.  What I liked best though, was the way she suggested honoring MOTHERS -- all types.  She doesn't talk about all women, but she does talk about all mothers.

Thank you, Amy Young, for your beautiful thoughts:

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you
To those who experienced loss this year through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.
To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you
To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you
To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you
To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you
To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience
To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you
This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Food For Thought...

During this season when it is so easy to want to fast forward these last few weeks of school, I am trying to keep the below poem as my Food For Thought...


First, I was dying to finish my high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
Then I was dying to marry and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could go back to work.
But then I was dying to retire.
And now I am dying...
And suddenly I realized...
I forgot to live.

- Anonymous

Love Poem

Back in November, Hubby and I had the pleasure and honor of participating in, and attending the wedding of my childhood best friend.

She had a Love Poem read at the ceremony that was written by a family friend, and it was such a beautiful poem.

It was printed in the program, but because I was a bridesmaid, and Hubby was tending to Tracey Ann neither one of us was able to make it away with a program.  Luckily, in this day of email, my friend was able to email me the poem so that I can share it here.

Love Poem 
by Jack Ridl

[He] makes the smallest talk I’ve ever heard.

                                              --John Woods

The smaller the talk the better.

I want midgets in my mouth.

I want to sit with you and have us

solemnly delight in dust; and one violet;

and our fourth night out;

and buttonholes. I want us

to spend hours counting dog hairs,

and looking up who hit .240

in each of the last ten years.

I want to talk about the weather;

and detergents; and carburetors;

and debate which pie our mothers made

the best. I want us to shrivel

into nuthatches, realize the metaphysics

of crossword puzzles, wait for the next

sports season, and turn into sleep

holding each other’s favorite flower,

day, color, record, playing card.

When we wake, I want us to begin again

never saying anything more lovely than garage door.

I Think She Knows...

I Think She Knows...

By the way her eating habits have changed,
By the way she doesn't run to the door when I get home,
I think she knows.

By the way she wants attention on her terms without warning,
By the way she squirms when I pick her up,
I think she knows.

Suddenly,
When I'm alone in the house,
She decides she wants to cuddle.
Her hind paws on my round stomach,
Her front paws and head draped over my shoulder.

There she will stay for an hour,
Not purring, but resting,
On her terms
Occasionally licking my cheek,
Resting her head.

She, poking my abdomen from the outside
The baby poking my abdomen from the inside.
I think she knows.

Poetry

Last night, in a trip down memory lane, Chris and I watched Dead Poets Society.  How horrible is is that so much of the poetry that I know comes from this movie?  Poetry is so beautiful and yet I have never found a book of poems to capture my attention to read.. well, maybe "Where The Sidewalk Ends".

via

I think I will get "Leaves of Grass" from the library.  If think if there is a book of poems worth trying to understand, that is it.

Dead Poets Society is such a great story of a teacher inspiring young men to think for themselves.  Every teacher wants to have this impact on his students (with possibly a little less drama).  Every student wants a teacher to have this impact on their life (with possibly a little less drama).

Have you scene Dead Poets Society ever or recently?  If you've never seen it, I would definitely recommend it -- although I want to specify, this is not a movie for children.  I saw this movie in high school and I think that was a great first age to see it.  This isn't a family movie for kids younger, than I'd say 15 years old.



Have you read any poetry recently?

"To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time"
by Robert Herrick
GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
    Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
    To-morrow will be dying.

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"Walden"
Henry David Thoreau
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived.

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"Leaves of Grass"
Walt Whitman

O ME! O life!... of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.

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 Walt Whitman quote:
 I SOUND MY BARBARIC YAWP OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF THE WORLD.

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Henry David Thoreau quote:
 Most men lead lives of quiet desperation 

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"Ulysses"
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world....
For my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset...
Though we are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are---
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
 
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"The Road Less Traveled"
Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in the wood and I,
I took the road less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.