Then Dick (the younger) would say to Tom (the older)--go ahead, Tom, say the poem. So Tom started out:
M is for the Many things she gave me--(pause)
O is for the Other things she gave me--(another pause)
T is for the Things she gave me--(awkward pause)
And, then Tom would stop. Stuck on H not really knowing the verse about "Mother." Predictably, that would earn Dick's derisive scorn. Of course, the routine stopped there--Tom never finished his version.
Well, Mother's Day is one of those days which the predominant culture lauds and bathes in positive association. All of us had a mother--whatever other relatives we have, we all have for certainty two: a mother and a father. But not all of us have happy memories attending this day.
I know this has been the subject of a previous post--for, you see, my mother died on Mother's Day. Of course, I still celebrate this day. I honored my mother on this day when she was alive, and now that I have a step-mother, I honor her. I have honored other mother figures in my life. And I have been honored as a mother.
But, still, the day brings a moment's reflection--it raises a lump in my throat, quickens a tightness in my chest. No day is a good day for the premature death of one's mother--but to have that death occur on Mother's Day? Well, the overlapping of happiness with grief inevitably arises.
No need to belabor the subject--but each Mother's Day I naturally think of my mother, and I also remember her death.
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* In case you don't know the verse (actually the lyrics from an early 1900s song)--here it is:
M Is for the Many things she gave me,
O Means only that she’s growing Old.
T Is for the Tears she shed to save me,
H Is for her Heart of purest gold.
E Is for her Eyes with love light shining,
R Means Right and Right she’ll always be.
O Means only that she’s growing Old.
T Is for the Tears she shed to save me,
H Is for her Heart of purest gold.
E Is for her Eyes with love light shining,
R Means Right and Right she’ll always be.
Put them all together, They spell MOTHER.
A word that means the world to me.
A word that means the world to me.
4 comments:
Although it's a bittersweet day for you, I wish you more sweet than bitter.
Thinking of you today! As well as a happy mother's day to you, too!
My mother's funeral was on Monday after Mother's Day. I had a terrible time trying to find a florist in her small town who had enough flowers for the family spray. Because it was Mother's Day their stocks were depleted.
I do remember this verse. I have not recited it for years. My mother has been gone since she was 61. I don't need Mother's Day to think of her. I think of her almost daily and often recall the lessons she taught me. I even find myself saying some of the thing she said. So in a way,my mother is still in the present for me.
I have great respect for being a "mother". When my son's mother left to find herself. I came to see myself as more a mother than a father to our son as I took up the sole task of parenting (mothering) him to become a successful adult.
I often hinted that I should get a present at Mother's Day without any success.
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