Symbel-wynn Reflections

5/14/2023

I’m sort of a grouch about Mother’s Day. I think it’s silly to *have* to do something for your mother today. Required “Hallmark” love doesn’t satisfy.

Twenty years ago, I wished Mom my very last “Happy Mother’s Day” into her earthly ears. When I look back at old pictures of Mom, I don’t feel any outside pressure to love her. It just bubbles up from the inside. No single day of a month can dictate this feeling. Every memory pours love in and draws it out like the beating of a heart.

I’m a mom now. I have three beautiful kids who energetically surround me when I’m trying to rest… much like my siblings and I surrounded my mom in this picture. Far too frequently, I’m not aware enough to pay attention to the preciousness of these moments, but every once in a while I’m wide awake when they come. On those sweet occasions, the minutes tick too quickly as I try to commit to memory every word and expression tumbling and beaming or sobbing and raining from my kids.

When I look at Mother’s Day that way–a way to remember the preciousness of the relationships I am allowed and am attempting to foster–I think this Hallmark holiday may not be so bad. The definition of Hallmark is, after all: “a distinctive feature, especially one of excellence.”

And, so, Happy Mother’s Day to you mothers and families who mark your moments with loved ones with distinction, because it’s the little, every day moments–not just on the second Sunday in May–that make this day an excellent time to stop and remember you. And, frankly, I have no business being grumpy about any of that.