Mother's Day

I have a snapshot of my mother that I culled from the piles I sorted when I put together an album for the memorial service last November. I'm lying on the living room rug with my legs up on the coffee table and my mother is sitting on the couch with her stockinged feet on the same table (very formal household I grew up in). By the big orange flower print of the couch and the enormity of my mother's then-stylish glasses, it must be the 1970s (late '70s by my short haircut - I must be in college). She's about to sew a button or a hem, an invisible thread taut between her pinched fingers. She's laughing, head thrown off to the side not back, as someone must have said something ridiculous, probably with the specific intention of making her laugh. It was always rewarding to make my mother laugh, not because it was hard but because it was easy.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there celebrating today. Eat your vegetables, say 'please' and 'thank you,' put that thing down before you poke somebody's eye out, and call your mother.

[Lily-of-the-valley, or muguet; 1:30pm, 5/10/08]

In Paris last year, on May 1st, everyone was carrying sprigs of muguet for the Labor Day holiday. The fragrant flower is the flower of spring, and among other things it signifies renewed happiness. Yesterday it was rampant on roadsides and in the woods at the wildlife sanctuary.

Comments

[beth]

Good story, Leslee - and don't those big glasses look funny now? I'm glad we can smile about our mothers now. (Don't run with scissors!)

[mm]

Lovely post. The passage of the first year in particular brings these different reminders ...

"It was always rewarding to make my mother laugh, not because it was hard but because it was easy."

Absolutely.

[marja-leena]

What a lovely memory to treasure, to remember your mother laughing! Thank you for sharing this story and for the good wishes, Leslee.

[leslee]

Beth: Yes, they do look pretty goofy, although I've seen sunglasses coming back that size. The hairdos, though... (And if you keep making that face, it's going to stick that way!)

MM: Thanks. Yes, it's been a mixed week, memory-wise, sad, appreciative, curious.

Marja-Leena: Yes, her saving grace, and enduring gift.