Happy Mothers Day - 2014

Happy Mother's Day 2014

I was looking at some old pictures this morning and found this one.  Our very first picture as "Mums".

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My previous Mother's Day Posts:

2008
2009 & 2009
2010
2011
2012 - apparently I skipped blogging that year
2013

A mother's day feast

We christened the new BBQ with a Mother's Day feast. We had barbecued steak medallions, sautéed onions, lobster in butter with Brandy and spring fresh fiddle heads.

And for desert we had vanilla ice cream with 3 different toppings:  Pears in red wine, strawberries with Balsamic vinegar and a brandy sauce

Dinner was divine!

Mother's Day 2011

So far 2011 has not been a stellar year.  Dad dying, lice, a trip to the ER are some of the big highlights, but even the mundane day to day stuff seems to be kicking my butt.  So it was no wonder that I had no idea that Mother's day was only days away when a colleague asked me my plans.   I am going to be cooking what will hopefully be a yummy dinner for Hilary, but beyond that we are plan-less.

Since I started this blog in 2008 I've posted a Mother's day post each year, last year going so far as making it a full weeks event.  This year I don't have much to say.  There are some underlying family issues going on between my Mom and my Grandma which are weighing heavily on my heart.  So I give you instead a recap of my past posts:

2008 - A poem that I had written 5 years earlier when I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a Mom

2008 -  Contest - I wrote a story about the day my Mom got me and become a Mom for the first time.

2009 - Linda & 2009 - Iris Being adopted can mean remembering Mother's Day twice.

2010 For the week leading up to Mother's Day I wrote a tribute post to all the Mom's that are in my life.

Mother's day

My Mother, my Mom, my Grandma, Liam's Mom,  my Mother-In-Law and  my Love.

Today I celebrate them all.

Who are you celebrating today?

Hilary

Hilary is the easiest Mum to write about. I see her in action every day! She is the one that Liam turns to when he is sick. In his eyes she is "Magic Fix It Mummy" who can cure hurts and fix toys. She chases away nightmares and makes the best "transportation style noodles" this side of anywhere. She climbs rocks and let's Liam jump across crevices that other mothers cringe at and can't watch. She loves to snuggle and tickle and read books with him. She's an awesome Mum and I'm so glad that I get to see her in this role every day.

She is my Love.

Rosemary

Mother-in-laws often get a bad rap.  Not mine.  She rocks!  She's the Mum I turn to when I need to vent, when I need advice or when I just want to chat.  She raised Hilary to be the awesome woman that she is today.  She's delightfully weird, she bursts randomly into song and would have loved to have been on Broadway.  She owns grape scissors, and had more advice for us when we got the dog then when we got the kid. She will be the cause of Liam learning to swear before he's 10.  She drives like she still lives in Toronto no matter where she is and she's just fun to be around.

She is my Mother in law.

"K"

The hardest one to write.  The only one I can't post a picture for.  "K" is Liam's Mom.  She's never held him, she has never seen him or talked to him, but to me, and to him, she is still his mother. Liam is the first to tell anyone that he has 3 Mom's.  He has a picture of her on his bedroom wall.  He knows that he gets his blond hair and piercing blue eyes from her.  While she may not be in his life day to day, she is still an important part of it, and always will be.

There are many labels that people may chose to use to describe "K".  To us, she is and will always be Liam's Mom.

Winnie

I grew up spending a lot of time with my Grandma.  I spent my first week with my family at her house and later she nursed me through a week of chicken pox.  We spent nearly every weekend at her house or in the summers, at her trailer.  We made rock soup together and told stories.  She took me swimming in the lake every day.  I woke up Christmas morning snuggled up next to her since we had more people then beds when every one visited.  She wrapped her hair in industrial strength toilet paper every night and let me take out the bobby pins in the morning.  She makes the best "green salad", the only way I will still eat Jell-o.  She still spends every summer at her trailer and lives on her on in her own house the rest of the year. I only get to see her once a year now because we live so far apart, but I think of her every day.

She is my Grandma.

Linda

Linda is also my mother.  She was the one that taught me to ride a bike, who took me to school on the first day and who got me my first perm.  Like a lot of mother-daughter relationships, we've had our ups and our downs, but luckily the ups keep winning.   She's who I call when I'm elbow deep in spaghetti sauce and not sure what to do next.  We did so many things together when I was growing up - skiing, snowshoeing, shopping.   She taught me how to garden (not that it seemed to stick with me!) and how to iron my clothes.  

She is my Mom.

Iris

Each day this week leading up to Mother's day I will pay tribute to one of the Mother's in my life.

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Iris is where I began. She is my mother. I didn't get to meet her, or even know her name until I was in my 30s, but she was always someone I thought about. Having her in my life now, albeit in a very limited way, is important to me.  Her past and her story is my past and entwined with my story.  Shortly after we were reunited she dug out a family tree project that she had done, added me to the line after her entry and sent it to me.  It is one of my treasured possessions.  They may only be names on a piece of paper but they are the history of my mother's family.

She is, was and will always be my mother.

Happy Mother's Day Part 2

I get to celebrate having 2 mothers today!I took this candid picture of Iris 2 years ago on one of our visits together.

Happy Mother's Day

My Mom:

I'm not sure when this picture was taken, but I really like it.

October 6, 1970

My friend Jenna held a Mother's day contest on her blog. This is the story that I submitted (and that she picked as one to showcase. Thanks Jenna!!)

October 6, 1970.

The woman waited in the chair, in awe at what was about to happen. Her dream was about to come true. The journey to this day had been long and bumpy, but now that it was here, all of that was forgotten. She looked over at her husband, trying to read his thoughts, but his face was a stoic mask, revealing no clues to what he might be going through.

The door opened and a woman entered carrying a file folder. It looked too thin. How could those few pieces of paper change so many lives? As she sat down and introduced herself she opened the file, pulled out a paper and began to read it to them. The woman frantically grabbed her purse and pulled out a pen and scrap of paper. She didn’t want to miss a thing, information that may be lost forever after this day. It was too important. She managed to write it all down, illegible to anyone but her, but that didn’t matter. She had it. She could type it up later.

Then suddenly it was time. She was no longer sure that her legs could carry her, and she leaned on her husband for support. They walked out of the office and into another more comfortable room . A stranger stood with her back to them, looking out the window, pacing slowly. When the stranger heard them come in, she turned around to greet them. In her arms was the most amazing baby the woman had ever seen. Because this baby was about to become the woman’s daughter. The stranger, a social worker from Children’s Aid, reached out and handed the woman the baby. And at that moment, the woman became a mother.

I am the baby of this story, adopted by my parents at 6 weeks old. For me, one of my mother’s most defining moments of motherhood was when she realized the importance of the information that the social worker was sharing with them about my first family. My mother was not so caught up in the excitement of her dream coming true that she forgot about the other people involved. She typed up the information she had and it was pasted in the front of my baby book. In a time of closed adoptions, when adoptive parents were often told to just move on, treat her as if she were born to you, don’t worry about the past, my mother had the insight to think that one day I would want to know why I had brown eyes and was taller then every one around me. She knew that the clues might help me find my first mother one day. She was not threatened by this, but embraced my beginnings as a part of me.

Non-Mom - How to complain

Want to complain?
Here is the info:

AFM TV LLC11444 W. Olympic Blvd.,
10th FloorLos Angeles, CA
90064
Attn: Chief Legal Officer
Fax: (310) 966-5758

People are also emailing the Today Show - Today@NBCUNI.com and some are even emailing Donnie and Marie to send complaints. Someone called this number 212-664-4249 and got a live person to complain to (whom she said agreed with her).

http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/

I'm a "Non-Mom"

It's so great to be acknowledged as a "Non-Mom" Mom. Thanks NBC and Teleflora!!

The non-mom mom

Grandparent, stepmom, or mom to adopted children, each one raising and loving a child. A priceless gift for everybody.

You can check out their other categories here

It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy insided!

To all the Mothers that have touched my life

I wrote this 5 years ago, for Mother's Day 2003. That was the first year that I was a mother on Mother's day and only 2 years after I had found Iris. I had a whole lot of emotion going on that year!!

Iris, my Birth Mother, who gave me life, brown eyes and dimples.

Linda, my Mom, who cared for the cuts and scrapes and dried my tears.

Winnie, my Grandma, who made me stone soup and cuddled me.

Lena, my GodMother, who was always there to listen to me.

Rosemary, my Mother-in-Law, who raised my soul-mate.

Hilary, my Love, who loves our son and me unconditionally.

K., Liam’s Birth Mother, who made me a mother.

Me, I am who I am because of each of these wonderful women.

For that I thank them all.

Happy Mother’s Day