A Day for Mothers

Sunday was a day for mothers.  I spent the day at home alone, but I probably thought about mothers more than I usually do.

There are so many kinds of mothers:  birth mothers, adoptive mothers, foster mothers, stepmothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers, godmothers, stay-at-home mothers, working mothers, single-parent mothers, house mothers, room mothers, spiritual mothers, honorary mothers - even Mother Earth and Mother Nature.

Mothers can each look, speak, or act in different ways.  They can be considered as good mothers or bad mothers or maybe not considered as mothers at all.  All of them in their own way potentially provide the nurturing, encouraging, comforting qualities associated with the word motherhood as well as any guidelines, challenges, and discipline that might be needed.

Whatever kinds of mothers I've had, I have learned from them.  Sometimes the lessons are not grasped until much later - maybe as I have taken on more motherly roles myself, perhaps as I see my own mother in declining health in her final years, or possibly as I conceptualize my own version of "It takes a village to raise a child."

I hope every mother, whatever kind of mother, enjoyed their special day yesterday.  I hope everyone with mothers honored them yesterday and honors them every day.  As we all know, motherhood doesn't just happen on the 2nd Sunday in May; in most cases, it is a 365-day-a-year role.