A Mother's Day Repeat

I'm repeating this 2006 Mother's Day post from my old 360 blog. Happy Mother's day to all the mothers reading this!

Here's what my namesake (Kelly the cow) gave me for Mother's Day. In honor of her new little bull calf I'm posting this wonderful poem Marion had on her blog recently.

The Pasture
by Robert Frost

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I sha'n't be gone long. You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha'n't be gone long. You come too.

FreeVerse - Haiku for Mother's Day

Hosted by Cara at Ooh...Books!
(click on image above)

What a pleasant surprise to find out I had the winning entry at Cara's! I don't claim to be a poet, but I really enjoy Haiku and have tried my hand at writing it a few times. You can see samples here, here, and again here.

In memory of my mother and my aunt, I've attempted a series of Haiku for this week's FreeVerse. To give some background, my mother died when I was seventeen and one of my father's sisters stepped in to try and fill the void. Some of these may not work that well individually, but I hope as a grouping they convey some of the emotions surrounding these events.


I was seventeen
When she departed this world
I still needed her

Taken far too soon
Thirty-four years have gone by
Time eases the pain

No kids of her own
She only wanted to help
I pushed her away

She is gone now, too
I hope she knew in the end
How much I loved her

It wasn't until
I had children of my own
That I understood

Each one leaves the nest
Taking with them as they fly
A piece of my heart

The best gift ever!

My Mother’s Day celebration this year was very low key. My son quizzed me several weeks before the day as to what I wanted from him and I told him a card would be sufficient and to spread the word to his siblings. That night my husband took us all out to dinner (minus one child who wasn’t in town) and my son presented me with the requested card. Each of the kids had made a subtle reference at one point or another to some sort of gift, but as time passed I pretty much forgot about it.

Earlier this week a heavy box was delivered to our house. It was addressed to our younger daughter, who was out with a friend at the time, so I just set it aside for her. The minute she walked in and saw it she smiled and announced it was my belated Mother’s Day gift from her and her siblings.

What a fun gift!!! It was a case of “My Jones Soda” personalized with my kids’ photo and a message from them on the label. Both girls were quick to give their brother credit. He’d learned of the soda from a presentation someone made in one of his classes. From there it became a group effort deciding what picture to use and what flavor soda to pick (they chose green apple).

I loved it (both the soda and the idea in general) and couldn't have asked for any better gift! I’ve got great kids!

Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's Day I thought I'd share this article I wrote for another site in 2002. Have I taken my own words to heart since I originally wrote this? No. This year when asked I told them just to get me a card.

The Royal Blue Bathrobe

“What do you want for Mother’s Day, Ma?” My daughter stood looking at me expectantly.

I gave my usual “gift” answer. “I don’t want you to spend your money on me. You don’t need to get me anything.” Or better yet: “All I want from you and your brother is for you not to fight with each other for the entire day.”

More or less expecting this answer, she shrugged and walked away. Knowing that I would be asked the same question several more times, I didn’t give it any more thought… until this morning that is.

I opened a closet, glanced up at the shelf and saw it… a royal blue bathrobe. Nothing special or fancy, just a floor-length, wrap-around bathrobe. Memories flooded my mind.

Christmas 1975. My mother had spent most of the fall in and out of the hospital, but was going to be home for Christmas. I wanted to buy her something special. I saw the robe at a local department store. It was the perfect gift. The price was steep, but I knew she was worth every penny.

Christmas morning arrived and I handed her the huge, gift-wrapped box. I could tell she was surprised as she opened the package and took out the robe.

“You shouldn’t have spent this much on me!” she chided. “I don’t want you spending money on me!”

I looked at her quietly for a moment.

“Mother, I didn’t think you would even be alive this Christmas. Buying you this gift is the LEAST I could do.”

Mother died five months later.

I don’t have cancer or any other life-threatening disease. But I also don’t have a guarantee as to the number of days I’ll have on earth. Giving to others is a joy, one I want to teach my children.

The next time one of my kids says “Hey, Ma, what do you want for Mother’s Day”, I’ll say, “Just surprise me.”

Then again… the thought of no fighting between them for an entire day sure sounds good!