For many, Mother’s Day is a mixed blessing. If we have children, we hope they remember our very best moments, not our worst, but none of us has perfected motherhood. Sandy Conant Strachan shares this lovely poem in celebration of all the ways mothers can give and receive love.
——————————————————-
I know you are legion –
you women who gave birth
and were adored for some brief time.
Or who never gave birth
And for years, have watched this day go by
without flowers
no tender memories or words of love,
no special lunches
or surprise visits.
Each year an accusation,
an indictment
a painful reminder.
But don’t get lost in that labyrinth of sadness.
You were mothered – by wise women
who took you and loved you,
even in your rawness.
And you were mother – to sons and daughters
who came to drink of your experience,
your unspent affection,
the well that bubbled in you;
who needed you to be the mothers they never had,
the mothers who fell short,
the mothers who never understood them.
Rejoice, o my soul, for the gift of motherly love—
Given and received.