Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!  Sadly, I didn't get to see my mother this Mother's Day because she made plans months ago to go to New York with her sisters not realizing it was actually Mother's Day weekend.  Oddly enough, she's not the only mom I know who actually went to a different state this year.  My best friends mother went down to Florida with friends of hers too.  Honestly, I think it's sort of better than taking mom out to dinner.  I mean, she gets to spend a weekend away with friends.  Actually the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.  Moms take care of their families 365 days a year; do they really need to spend their day with their families.  Mother's Day seems like a day that would be a welcome break from the daily responsibilities of mothering.  What better day to go out with your girlfriends and have a great time.

Sure, over the years the holiday has evolved as the day for all children to show their deep appreciation for their moms but you know what?  Children should show their appreciation more than just one damn day of the year.  Yes, I get that we all probably don't tell our mothers how much we love them and how thankful we are for everything that they've done for us.  For the many sacrifices they may have had to make in order to put us first and raise us to be moderately responsible adults.  I think it's great that my mom, her sisters, my best friend's mom, and her friends when planning to go away for the weekend didn't think, "wait, it's Mother's Day that weekend.  I need to make sure I'm home so I can feel appreciated by my children."   Hopefully the reason that didn't cross their minds is because we actually do make them feel appreciated more than just one day a year.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by what to do for Mother's Day or Father's Day.  I was blessed with two amazing parents who have showered me with loads of love, support, and encouragement throughout my life.  They've worked really hard and made countless sacrifices for both my sister and me and how in the world could I even possibly show my appreciation for everything they've done for me?  With a clever hallmark card and my signature?  It just doesn't even begin to feel like enough.  If I had paid for my mother's entire weekend this weekend and included a relaxing massage for her and her sisters, paid for them to see some Broadway shows, and had them travel on the fancy Boston to New York train rather than the bus, it still wouldn't seem like enough.  What's worse is that I can't even say that I did that.  I'm too broke to give an all expense paid weekend getaway.  Because my mother is awesome, she'll read this and tell that I don't have to do anything like that but really not doing something like that just doesn't seem like enough, does it?

I did speak to my mom twice today over the phone and that was really nice.  She thoroughly enjoyed her weekend away and they had a great time together and that makes me so incredibly happy.  Hopefully she knows just how much my sister and I love her because we spent so many years just taking what she gave us for granted.   Even now, at the adult age of 26 I still feel like she does too much for me and I hardly do anything in return.  I think I always thought that by this age, I'd be able to show her how much I love her in a far better way than a simple card.   I know she reads this every so often so I can only hope that this entry conveys a fraction of my love for her.  Love you lots mom.



Okay, so I know that would be a perfect place to end things but I'm getting married this year and I feel it's important to say how much I enjoyed seeing my future mother in law today.  I'll be honest, going to Kevin's (my future brother in law) for dinner made me extremely anxious.  The last time I saw Dave's mom, the day before Kevin's wedding, Kevin let it slip that Dave and I were both thinking about changing our names to a last name that combines both our individual last names.  His mom saw this as her son choosing to leave his family and was heartbroken and scared.  There was a big fight that left me sobbing and her very upset about it all.  I was devastated by the whole thing.  Dave's mom is an amazing woman and it killed me to think that she looked at me in such a negative light-- like someone who was trying to take her son away from her.  You can't replace mom and I would never even conceive of such a thing but I understand where she's coming from.

Driving down tonight made me more than a little bit anxious.  What if we got into another fight?  What if she really hates me?  Dave hasn't been to see her in months, what if she blames that on me?  However, I really didn't have anything to fear.  As she as we got there she gave each of us a huge hug and told us how happy she was to see us.  We discussed the wedding and she seemed genuinely happy about it and wanted to help.  She even mentioned helping me find or make a veil if I really wanted one.  She commented on my engagement ring and I really began to feel like she truly does care about me and that she is happy that her son has chosen me to be his wife.  It brings tears to my eyes even now just thinking about it.  Family is so incredibly important.  More important than anything really and I'm really overjoy that I could maybe we could have more than a mutual respect for one another out of our love for Dave.  I want so much more than that and tonight between the love I felt from and for both my mom and his, I think I may just be the luckiest girl in the world.