Mothers

Mother - Mom - Mama - Mommie - Mum - Ma - Mam - Mummy

A rose by any other name is............just as powerful.

Mothers loom very large in our lives. They have given birth to us, raised and pushed us out of the nest. They can be our best friend and our worst enemy.

Some mothers are fabulous and deserve the Queen for the Day award over and over and over.

Some mothers are self absorbed and neglectful.

Some mothers are ill prepared for motherhood and always have the deer in the headlights look.

Some mothers are down right destructive in their relationships with their children.

Some mothers are even murderous - which is so beyond my comprehension.

But no matter what kind of mother you had, the lasting effect of Her is amazing.

Even that perfect mother - cookie baking - PTA Leading - gourmet meal preparing - craft creating - gentle bed tucking - "owie" curing - hug giving and all round wonderful woman can cast an immense shadow over your life as you may feel - cookies are ok from the store - a couple of PTA meetings are good enough - frozen pizzas work - homemade means good deal at a craft fair - a good bedtime is the kids are quiet and asleep before midnight - "get up, you are not hurt" - hugs are gestures as you fly through the house and you definitely do not feel like the wonderful all round woman.

The self absorbed mother can leave you lacking confidence and understanding of relationships.

The ill prepared mother can leave you afraid of your own shadow.

The destructive mother leaves you with no good idea of a functional family.

And we won't discuss the murderous mother.

But all mothers have several things in common.

We all love them.

And we have times we all hate them or at least don't like them very much.

When they are alive - we wish they would give us space.

When they have passed - we wish they were in our arms.

But most of all they are our mothers and good, bad or indifferent, they have molded who we are.

Some of us are determined to never be like our mothers (pick me! pick me!)

Some of us are determined to be exactly like our mothers (OMG How did she manage all of this........)

But all of us should recognize our mother's influence and then work to be the best we can be.

We are not our mothers. The times are different. The challenges seem steeper. Our lives move faster. The stakes are higher.

So I close by asking all of you to ponder your mother a moment.

Honor her influence.

And then enjoy your own path, your own self worth, your own beauty and your own spirit.

Blessings to all of you