Our society operates by way of titles. The more titles a person accrues the more important they and everyone around them believe them to be. There are the titles we all possess like someone's child or friend, but then there are the more coveted titles like wife, and mother. I have never given much thought personally to Mother's Day up until last year. Even though many of our friends have celebrated this holiday long before they were ever pregnant, this has always seemed unfit for me. I suppose the main sticking point for me is how seriously I take my own titles. No social norm or peer pressure have ever propelled me into becoming anything. While everyone around me was getting married, I was happily dating. While everyone around me was having children, I was happily not.
Last Mother's Day I was pregnant. No one knew this other than my husband, so we quietly celebrated with a smiles exchanged throughout church. Once we returned home he surprised me with the most thoughtful card. I was excited to receive a small token of his affection on that day. This holiday which never mattered one ounce to me personally before, mattered and applied to me now. This was my first Mother's day. Flash forward one year and here we are celebrating another Mother's Day. This year much like last, we will be celebrating quietly. No lavish plans or handmade macaroni necklaces. Though the rest of the world might not think of me when they hear the title mother, I know I am regardless. Even though my son is not around to fill our home with his smiles and laughs, he fills my heart with love and joy each and everyday.
Happy Mother's Day in particular to my own mother, who is my fiercest supporter, strongest advocate and who I can honestly say loves me more than life itself. I truly won in the mother department and really lucked out in the mother in law department.