Because I couldn’t spend time with my own mother on Mother’s Day, being as how she is 8000-some-odd kilometers away, when one of the members of the AWC organized a Mother’s Day Luncheon today, I took my mother-in-law, which is what all of us who attended did. Our mothers-in-law who have helped to welcome us to a foreign country, made adjustments in their lives and their ways of thinking in order to bring us into the family, and who have helped the ongoing acclimatization with which we struggle on a daily basis, no matter how long we have lived here. Apart from my own mother, I don’t know any woman on the face of this planet who is as generous and kind as my mother-in-law.
Being able to talk to my mom long-distance is wonderful, but it can never be as satisfying as the frequent face-to-face contact we once had. Having had this last month in the States with my mom was a blessing. We didn’t have to spend our short conversations catching up on the all the important highlights of our lives; instead we were able to slow the pace down, talk about anything and everything, laugh at things together that struck us as humorous, poke each other in the night when one of us woke the other one up snoring in the king-size hotel bed. How are all those bruises on your arm, Mom? 😛
Despite the evidence that I obviously caved at some point, it was never a goal in my life to be a mother. I didn’t even want children! I couldn’t imagine and was rather horrified by the thought of someone else being dependent on me or the responsibility that I imagined motherhood required. Against the long list of Reasons Why Not To Have Children that I kept a half-joking running tally of, the only thing on the “Pro” side was being able to read books to my kid.
My mom taught me more about how to be myself than I realized. She gave me all the tools I needed to become the person I am, one that I’m proud to be. She STILL teaches me, by example, though sometimes it seems to be refresher courses that she thinks I obviously need more tutoring in. I don’t know what kind of grade I would receive as a daughter if grades were handed out for this sort of education, but I hope that one day my daughter (and my son) will give me the kind of marks that I award MY mom.
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who reads this post. May you have a mom, or be a mom, or know a mom, like mine.
Really Great Writing Out there Right Now: White Corsage
Bumblebee Buzzing, Willow Tree Fuzzing, Warm Birthday Wishes to redpirk!