"Mother's Day" and Ricki (and the rest of my kids, even more!!)

[image: another mosaic on Ricki's grave, this time a bird (who flew away....).]

 Originally, I planned to visit Ricki's grave last Thursday, a month or so since my last visit. However, certain things cropped up, and I didn't manage, so I went today. (Even today I toyed with the idea of pushing the visit off another week or so, as I had other things I wanted to get done as well. However, I DID want to go, AND I felt as well an obligation to not put the visit off too long.)  As I was walking to her grave (it's only about a ten minute walk from the bus stop), I remembered that it's "mother's day".

    Now, I am not a big advocate of "mother's day", feeling that I need to tell my mom more than once a year that I appreciate her, and not, certainly, because someone reminded me. But with all that aside, I was struck by the irony that I was going to Ricki's grave exactly on "mother's day". 

   You see, I am still very much Ricki's mom. I think about her often, and the fact that she was my daughter is such a big part of my existence.Being a parent doesn't stop when our children grow up and move away, get married, and find jobs. We are still concerned about them--- and their families as well. We pray for them, we enjoy them,  and we sometimes even risk inserting our two cents of an opinion.

    And our offspring, in turn, often sweeten our lives by showing the  maturity that once we were never sure would take root and sprout. We see them raising their children, and interacting with their nephews, and we are touched by the similarities between this, and how they were raised, and grateful for those things they do better. 

    So happy mother's day to all you moms.... and let's try and be the moms we hope our kids will one day be.