In Honor of my Mother — Remembrance & Celebration

my mother and father in their youth, prior to my birth

Today is Mother’s Day.

For many, it is a day filled with flowers and chocolate, gifts and good food.

For others, it is not as simple or straightforward.

If you have a complicated relationship with your mother, or child, if you have lost someone you see as a mother, if you have navigated a complex childhood with divorce, or are caring for step-children, or are celebrating someone who may not have given birth to you…I see you.

You are not alone.

And everything the day may bring up for you, is valid.

For some of us, it means taking a step back and reflecting on…what this sacred journey of motherhood and being mothered really is.

And there is much to this question, and it goes perhaps deeper than many of the now standard celebrations of the day really allows.

So I thought I would take the time to write this. In case it helps even one person reading this, it will be worth it.

I myself lost my mother when I was 15.

Since then, it has been a journey of resilience for me, and of finding myself and my own path. As such, I have never really taken the time on Mother’s Day any year before this — to really sit down and reflect, to commemorate and honor her.

I will do so now.

My mother was (and still is) the most kind, compassionate, selfless person I have ever met in my entire life. I am not just saying this because she was my mother, and obviously was kind and loving to me. I have seen and met and observed many people in my life. Many wonderful and incredible people. But my mother — the way she treated people — every single person around her — I have never quite witnessed anyone else treat others with such…sincerity. She treated strangers like they were family. And the whole world became her home.

I grew up believing in the goodness of others because of her. I grew up with a sense that…the world was a beautiful place. Where people treat each other with love. That is what I knew and felt. That is what she embodied.

When she died, I truly did not understand. Why things happen as they do. I thought that good things were supposed to happen to good people. And bad things to bad people. And that there was some overseer of fairness in the universe.

But I learned that things are not always that simple. And it took me a long time to understand that everything has its reason, and its course. That there is a divine flow to things and that there is perhaps a greater cosmic plan that I had yet to grasp.

But that was not easy for me to understand at the time.

I only knew that the earth had lost one of its best. Had lost one of its very best humans. I did not know why it had to be so.

Today, as I write this, I want to make sure that her spirit knows…that she is eternal. Not just in the sense that, of course, the spirit is eternal, but in that…her spirit continues to flow in me. And in all that she has touched. In her legacy of kindness and love for so many who knew her.

And in this sense, our mothers before us continue to exist in us and always will. We will always carry their blood. By definition the blood of our ancestors flows within us…and their spirits glide alongside us. They will always exist. Even after the conscious memory is gone, the effect of their lives and the way they lived their lives…will continue to flow through the way we live ours.

What kind of legacy would you like to leave?

How would you like your spirit to flow through the ones you leave behind?

If anything, I hope that this may be a reminder, to start living that way. In a way that when the progeny of your life live their lives you will be proud to see your spirit in them.

It is an honor to be a daughter of this world. This is for my mother yes, but also for all the mothers that helped raise the children of the world. All the mothers who were always doing the best that they knew how. And the ones who were doing the best even when they didn’t know how.

To love, to being loved. To kindness and compassion.

To the ones who invoke the best that life can bring,

the ones whose spirit will forever sparkle.

With infinite love,

❤︎ Please share this with anyone whom you feel may resonate with this message on their journey. And so, let us spread currents of love and remembrance within and around us. Sending love on this day and everyday.