An Ode to Mom

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my wonderful friends and family who are Moms! To my Mom Norma especially – I don’t know where I would be without your support this past year, during all of my crazy life change!! Mother’s Day is normally a wonderful celebration of life and love, but I admit this year I’m a bit solemn about it all, maybe for the first time in my life. I feel for all of those people who have wanted to be parents and couldn’t for health or other reasons. And to be honest, I thought I would be a Mom by this point in my life… but it just hasn’t happened to me. Some days I feel like a bit of a failure as a woman. My plan to have a child at 30 and another at 33 clearly didn’t pan out.

My fur baby lives in another country, and I’m at a point in my life where I doubt I’ll have time to meet someone and have my own kids, because my age timer is about to expire. I will be on the lookout for kids who I can help out and love in other ways, or perhaps eventually I will adopt. Who knows what is in store for me over the next few years. I’ve been thinking about getting a couple of new fur babies now that I’m a little less busy with work. I think that may help me fill the void of not having anyone to nurture.

All of that being said, I want to celebrate all of the things I love about my Mom. An Ode to Norma! 🙂 In no particular order, here are the things I love most about her:

1. Compassion – No matter how I’m feeling, I’m grateful that I can always call my Mom no matter what and tell her what is going on in my life and she wants to help me through it. She has a tremendous amount of compassion for the situations I’ve been in and has heard me cry more times than I can count. She is empathetic and sensitive, one of the strongest women I know.
2. Unconditional love – I know that Mom will always love me regardless of where I am or what I’m going through, and for that I am incredibly grateful. She is like this with all of her children… we are very lucky.
3. Caring – My Mom cares about everyone she comes in contact with. She watches everything that is happening in my virtual life (Facebook, etc.), she calls me to check in on how I’m doing and will always give me hugs in person or caress me like only a Mom can when she knows I’m having a rough time. I appreciate knowing she is there when I need her and I am very grateful for the deep chats we’ve had and caring support she has given me. Especially this past year.
4. Knowledge – My Mom is a part-time librarian and an avid reader. She can often recommend new fun books for me to read and she knows me well so I tend to like everything she suggests. She will also research any subject in depth and provide me with summaries of things I didn’t even know I wanted to learn about.. like gardening, finances, astrology and more. 🙂
5. Family – To my Mom, family is everything. She lights up when we are all together. This year, over Christmas and Easter, we had everyone all together and it was wonderful. I surprised her with a visit over the Easter break and she teared up, as did my Dad. I love seeing her light up with joy as she watches her grandchildren grow. She sacrificed so much of herself to give me everything I could ever need as a child, and I will never, ever forget that.
6. Values – My Mom has taught me the value of honesty, respect, love, kindness and doing what is right. Those values have carried me through life in ways I never thought possible, crossing continental and cultural barriers. She and my Dad taught me what being a good human being and maritimer is all about.
7. Family meals – My Mom does everything she can to bring our family together over good food. At the holidays, she works tirelessly to make sure everyone is well fed and has access to their favorite special foods like squash, pie and everything else in between. She’s taught me how to make some amazing dishes and recipes that I will cherish for life.
8. Perfection – Mom is all about the details – things have to be done right. She instilled in me a love of taking time to do things well, and right, to the extent that perfect can be. With everything.
9. Independence – Mom is ok being by herself. When my Dad worked really long hours she would occupy herself with lots of shows, books and creative projects. It is inspiring for me, especially now, to know that alone time is important and needed for one’s growth.
10. Creativity & Art – Mom has to be one of the most creative people I know and she appreciates and supports the arts. She is a talented drawer and painter and has commissioned works from various people throughout her life. She appreciates dance and good pop music with a beat. I think I got my artistic side from her and I am so grateful that she’s used her creative gifts to help to so many, including decorating for weddings, painting of animals on rocks and and writing calligraphy for music festival certificates. She enrolled me in piano, helped me learn how to sing and speak in front of people and took me to many inspiring artistic events as a child. I have learned so much from her on this front!

There you have it, an ode to my Mom! 🙂 Special thanks goes out to many other incredible women who I’ve looked up to as mother figures over the years as well – Paulette, Aditi, Sandra and so many more who have helped me grow and be a better person. You are all loved and I hope that you are treated super special by your children on Mother’s Day, and always!! ❤

 

Love and blessings to you all,

Melly xo