A Bittersweet Mother's Day 2019

On this rainy Mother's Day, so many thoughts are ruminating in my brain. Mother's Day has morphed into another obligatory commercial holiday has that lost its original meaning. Even the founder of Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, hated what her creation had become, a $5.2 Billion industry. 

Two years ago on Mother's Day we buried my mother's ashes. For those of us who have lost our mothers, the constant barrage of advertisements, emails, news articles, tweets, or reminders to buy gifts or send flowers or celebrate Mother's Day brings beautiful memories, but also heartache, melancholy, regret, tears and wishes that we could just have one more day, hour or minute with our moms.  This Mother's Day I'm thinking of all of my friends, coworkers & acquaintances who are mourning the loss of their mothers & sending positive energy and hugs into the Universe.

 I'm also thinking of a dear friend who is spending her first mother's day without one of her beloved sons, who was murdered two weeks ago today. Her Mother's Days will never be the same. None of her days will ever be the same. There will always be a hole in her heart as big as the Grand Canyon. This Mother's Day I am sending prayers to all of the mothers that have lost a child to violence, illness, accident or suicide. 

On this Mother's Day I am grateful to my mother-in-law, who raised her son to be a kind, considerate, empathetic, loving man.  She has welcomed me as a daughter and ensured that I feel truly part of the family.  Her support has helped me begin to heal from the loss of my own mother while I've helped her deal with the loss of her own mother. 

I am also filled with gratitude to my husband's biological mother, who made the decision to give him up for adoption, which gave him opportunity to live the life of Leave It To Beaver that he enjoyed growing up with my in-laws. 

So, I'm asking the Angels and the Universe to send comfort to all who have bittersweet memories on this Mother's Day.