"Motherhood: All love begins and ends there." ~ Robert Browning
" Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly." ~Ambrose Bierce
Most days during this world upside down moment I can create a "normal" where things don't seem so out of time and space and I can continue to run my life. I can still sit in my office, do whatever work presents itself, and avoid doing the closet cleaning, garage cleaning, drawer cleaning, house cleaning...that everyone else seems to be accomplishing. Shopping isn't happening, theatre is gone, no museums, no baseball, and the kids in the neighborhood are riding their bikes with masks on...that one stopped me in my tracks. Are we really creating a generation that won't know from a smile, a hug, a kiss...nope, cannot go there! I am far too tied to screens like we all are and I do my best not to OD on news while I re-watch The West Wing for the umpteenth time. I can do this! play the supermarket delivery games, make my own masks, go through jugs of sanitizer and put one foot in front of the other doing what you have to do to stay safe and then go on to dig in the garden til the sun goes down.
Mary Englebreit
My Mom and her voice...well, she is a Mom. This is what she does and it seems it is what I do too. Despite many other roles and abilities, being a Mom is who she is with every inch of her being..and the root of all of this is love. That voice that lectures and reminds and pushes and frets and worries and...all come from a source that was planted through generations. Even though my Grandmother is no longer here she would be happy to know that the Muzak she implanted in both her daughter and in me plays everyday! WWND?-What Would Nana Do? makes us smile,laugh and remember. By some extraordinary string that will always connect us we do it her way, with our own twist, but Nana is in there in every high pitched instruction and lecture and reprimand and laugh! How lucky I am -I got stereo! There is my Nana's Muzak and there is my Mother's- not surprisingly very similar tunes. Of course it is not just the "do it my way" tunes that I hear each day but more profoundly the emotional songs that have taken root from the bottom of my feet. These roots come from knowing without any hesitation or embarrassment that I keep playing those tunes because I need to hear that "noise".
"My most important title is ‘mom-in-chief’. My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the centre of my world." - Michelle Obama, Former First Lady
I need the voice of the person who loves me no matter what! I may not always get it right but there is no auditioning or interviewing here. Even when the raincoat is in the car keeping the car dry, I know that if I get wet there is shelter available. If you are lucky in this life the bond with your Mom is the simplest, and many times the most complicated, one you will ever have. I am THAT lucky! There is nothing more basic or necessary than being loved completely and knowing that love sustains , motivates and grounds you. The string that runs from Mom to child is the most powerful and lasting connection there will ever be. We may walk through different doors painted different colors but we are usually going in the same direction... together! (much like the time we discovered we were in adjacent dressing rooms in Bloomingdales!)
The definition of a Mom cannot be found in a Hallmark card, in an ad for cake mix, or on a rerun of a 70s sitcom. A Mom is defined by her life's work. She can be a Supreme Court Justice or a candidate for President, but her Momdom is at the core of everything she does. Her success is not found in material success but in the knowledge that there is a perpetual work in progress out there that will always hear her music, always need her tune to be played, and always love her.
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