Floppies for Mommy

When I was a little girl, I would go for walks with my father and wherever we saw wild flowers growing, I would pick a handful which I would then carry home to give to my mother. "Floppies for Mommy."

It's Mother's Day and each time it rolls around I am overwhelmed with the enormity of the gifts that my mother has given to me over the past 65 years and embarrassed by the realization that I haven't given back nearly what I have been given. So here are some virtual floppies for Mommy. It's not nearly enough:

Thank you for showing me that if you hang on to your dreams they can eventually come true.

Thank you for showing me the importance of being true to yourself.

Thank you for showing me the value of volunteerism, the importance of giving to others.

Thank you for being the only person who supported my decision to enter the convent (and thank you for never giving me a hard time when I changed my mind)

Thank you for freshly pressed sheets, which you seemed to change every day whenever we were sick.

Thank you for pinning paper bags to the bed for used tissues and putting plastic basins next to the bed for upset stomachs...and for cleaning up both.

Thank you for the fun of listening to "One Man's Family" together at night.

Thank you for bringing me comic books when I was in the hospital following my tonsillectomy, and gravenstein apples when I was in the hospital after giving birth to Ned.

Thank you for giving me an example of what a really terrific Mom should be.

Thank you for breaking your ankle so that we could have six weeks to spend together and so that we could establish the Cousins Day routine (Yeah, I know you didn't do it deliberately would would rather that you had not....)

Thank you for giving me an appreciation of nature (even if you didn't pass along your green thumb).

Thank you for teaching me the value of being still and observing things around you...especially birds.

Thank you for being supportive, even when you knew that supporting my decisions would be very painful for you.

Thank you for teaching me that you can survive the loss of a child and go on.

Thank you for reading stories to me when I was a little girl and giving me an appreciation for reading.

Thank you for endless games of Scrabble and Monopoly when I was a child, and for endless games of Canasta and 65 (even if you are ruthless about winning...and cheat to do so!)

Thank you for teaching me to make daisy chains and fuschia ballerinas.

Thank you for teaching me to blow the fronds off of dandelions and for putting buttercups under my chin to see if I liked butter.

Thank you for pancakes with pork gravy.

Thank you for bringing me stacks of books to read whenever I was home sick.

Thank you for hockies and chocolate cream roll.

Thank you for not strangling me when I decided I was going to become an opera singer and spent every night "seranading" you with my skreetchy arias.

Thank you for being a wonderful grandmother to your grandchildren, and for having such a good relationship with each of them.

Thank you for being a wonderful mother to me and for the relationship that you and I have, which I value so very much.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day and I'm glad we had the time to spend together.

I love you, Momma.