Friday, May 11, 2018
EDITORIAL – Musings for a Mother’s Day Weekend
WEST SHORE VOICE NEWS EDITORIAL, by Mary P Brooke
In the pre-digital era, the busiest day of the year for phone calls was Mother’s Day. Nowadays that is trumped by email messaging, texting, Skype, Facebook and tons of other cyber ways to send a message to Mom on Mother’s Day.
On the ground, this weekend is jam-packed with activities in the west shore and Greater Victoria area. So many choices! There are options all weekend — Saturday and Sunday — including creative relaxing things like outdoor art shows, hands-dirty options like plant sales, playful plans like going to the park, culinary moments like lunch or dinner with Mom, and high-energy activities like taking in a day or two of professional women’s rugby. Or maybe you’ll just spend the day at home with your mom, baking cookies or sharing time over tea.
The common thread is a recognition that mothers are a cornerstone of family and society. One day is never enough to acknowledge the deep and enduring impact of a mother on her family. Of all our relationships in life, the one that starts with Mom is the most significant of all.
More broadly, this weekend is an opportunity to engage with, send greetings to, or think fondly of all the women we’ve known in a mothering capacity. You might call that approach something like ‘our own mother plus’: sisters, aunts, grandmothers, gal friends, even mentors. And Earth Day was last month, but Mother Earth is a good gal to tip our hat to as well.
Just as the definition of family has changed dramatically over the last 30 or 40 years, so too can we see a shift in the recognition of mother. She can be any woman who nurtures us without expectation of reward, bloodline not required. It’s a high calling, and for those of us lucky to have (or be) a good mom, that’s a treasure.
All of our moms deserve a hearty high-five, because being a mom is the toughest job in the world — to juggle parenting with home, family, relationship, person and society is fraught with decisions made without a safety net and sometimes endured without thanks.
This article was first published in the May 11, 2018 print/PDF edition of West Shore Voice News
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