Preserving Mother's Day Memories - Note from the Editor
 

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I bet there are a lot of other women, like myself, who wish they could turn back time.

From the bell jar of my memory, where they've been exquisitely preserved, I recall many sweet Mother's Days when my daughters, husband and I were together as a family at Rochester's Lilac Festival, perusing the crafts, munching on lobster rolls or fried dough, wandering the lilac scented paths, and taking selfies in our favorite tree.

It's odd that when you become a mother, you’re not told that it is, and it isn't a forever role. It can feel like forever during those times when the kids are acting up and you’re at wits’ end, or when they’re ill and you’re worried sick, or when they’re having school or dating problems and you feel helpless. You want it to be forever during those sweet moments when they crawl into your lap just to cuddle, or you realize their sense of humor is emerging by the way they make you laugh, or when they give you a hand-crafted piece of art just to say “I Love You.” There's the time when it feels like they need you every minute of every day... right through to the time when it feels like they no longer need you much as a parent. If you're lucky, they'll always want you as a friend..

No one warns you that one day the role that's existed throughout your child’s entire life will suddenly shift cataclysmically, to the point where phone calls must suffice in place of the hugs.

As mothers, we rejoice in their independence because it means we’ve done our job well, at the same time as we are saddened because it means we’ve been retired all too soon.

As women, we are the daughters who never understood these things enough when we were growing up to notice or to have empathy for our mothers feeling the weight of our absence, and we are the mothers who understand these things all too well.

So to all of the women reading this, whether you are a mother, a daughter, or both, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day, and many, many more sweet moments to preserve in the bell jar of your memory.