Happy Mother's Day 2020

The above is a Mother's Day card made by my daughter when she was small; my, my how those days have passed by so quickly!  For all Mothers, we secretly understand our plight, our struggle and our joy.  Motherhood is a slurry of all of these things, nothing is nicely packed into its own boxes; it is at best an organized chaos.  When our children are small, we wish them to be older and more self sufficient to give us a much needed break and when they have grown and no longer have a need for us, we long for them to be small and holding their outstretched arms up to us.  What motherhood looks like changes dramatically as our children grow into adults, but they will forever remain our babies, just as we remained like a child in the eyes of our own Mothers. 

Below is a poem I wrote when I a student at Monroe Community College about 20 years ago.  The assignment was to write a poem about my life starting with the present and working backwards to birth.  I felt it would be fitting to include with our Mother's Day theme, I hope you agree.  

Carrot Top

I asked my mother for advice 
on what I should write,
"How do I narrow down my life?"

"Just write about your hair, 
how wearing it short makes you look like a lady.
Tell them how you loved 
inventing new styles, with twists and pins 
Speak of times when I braided your hair, 
after your bath, before you fell asleep.  
And how the neighborhood girls loved to brush and play 
with your long, thick waves during slumber parties.
Finally, let them know
when I saw you for the first time, 
I fell in love with your bright, red hair..."

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I did end up getting an "A" on the above poem - thank you, Professor Leuzzi. 

For me this sums up how much we rely on our mothers.  We depend on them for shelter and safety when we are small and as we grow, they provide us with guidance and advice, whether or not we choose to listen!  Mom is always there until the day she is not and we must take up the reigns and do our best to fill the very large shoes of the others who came before us.  May we honor our Mothers and their memories and not let them down.  

Below is a clip of the video from our #deerrunmom photo contest.  We asked our followers on Instagram and Facebook to upload a photo of the Mom in their life and use #deerrunmom.  We received 55 pictures and have randomly chosen three winners.   Congratulations to our winners and Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms our there!  Press on!!