A (mostly) happy mother

It was a full and family-filled weekend. Julie was in a soccer tournament, and because her team ended up in the finals (which they lost 1-0, boohoo), they had 5 games. So a fair bit of time was spent shuffling back and forth to soccer fields (oh, and one trip to the hospital when she hurt her finger pretty badly and it looked like it was broken. We didn’t stay though, since they warned us that the wait would be 5-6 hours. And REALLY, what can they do for a broken finger other than wrap it up, just like I can do at home?)

Here are a few of my mother moments, most happy and a few sad.

- After a little coaxing from their dad, the oldest 2 girls each pitched in $5 and sent me off to a movie on Saturday night. What fun! A movie by myself! I saw Kinky Boots, which is quite enjoyable, in a Full Monty sort of way.

- Since the movie just HAPPENED to be in the same mall as my favourite bookstore, I wandered around the bookstore after the movie, and ended the evening with a yummy chai latte from the coffee shop in the bookstore.

- One little melancholy moment in the bookstore… while looking for a card for my sister (it’s her first mother’s day), I spotted a card that said something about journeys through life and had a picture of an old couple in a car on a journey together. I felt a lump form in my throat because today, my mom leaves on a 2 month trip to Holland with her husband - the man who is not my father. It still hurts sometimes that Mom and Dad didn’t get to grow old together.

- After the movie and the bookstore, I took the long way home and stopped at Matthew’s grave, partly because the melancholy still clung to me. In addition to missing Dad, I had a bit of a cry about the son I don’t get to mother. I remember the Mother’s Day after we lost Matthew. We ate dinner in the backyard, and there was a butterfly that kept landing on people’s heads as we ate. We said that it was the spirit of Matthew coming to remind his mother that things would be okay.

- At Matthew’s grave, I wrote out the card to my sister, ccap. It makes me happy that we now share motherhood.

- On Sunday morning, I was instructed to stay in bed, and before long, my breakfast arrived. Fresh cinnamon buns, fruit salad, a glass of milk, and a cup of tea. Yum, yum! The girls hopped into bed with me and we all ate breakfast together.

- For Mother’s Day – three home-made cards, three flower pens, a carnation, and a centrepiece. And best of all – three smiling faces proudly offering their gifts.

- I phoned my Mom yesterday, to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day and bon voyage (they’re leaving from Alberta). It makes me sad that now there are so many things I don’t say to my Mom. I love her and I miss her. I don’t always remember to be kind to her.

- Marcel cooked his famous chicken parmigan for supper at his parents’ yesterday. Everyone else provided pasta, salads, and desserts and we had a lovely Mother’s Day feast.

Thus ends another Mother’s Day weekend. I am blessed.