Mother's Day

-Me and my Mom-

I wanted to share a poem that my son, Jeremy, wrote for me when he left for college many years ago which I still cherish to this day.

For Mom

Parting curtains of natural

and self-induced amnesia,

there are images in my mind

of years spent with you.

Sifting through memories,

like picking through a shoe box filled with old greeting cards--

each slight cover triggering nostalgia, contentment,

or regret--

each memory is rich,

a card made sacred

by the life preserved there.

You've been at my side

as life's path has swayed and buckled,

tossing us around like an endlessly rolling wave.

We've inhabited little white houses

near rumbling train tracks

and driven a yellow Honda Civic in the floggy gloom

or scorching heat of the valley.

We've toured classic Victoria

and walked the beaches of obscure Bowser.

We've watched the flickering magic of movies

and witnessed the drama of our own family.

Trips, talks, days, and meals

all shared;

I sometimes not realizing that

we were having more than just a communion of proximity.

You've accompanied me during

the anguish of indecision,

the elation of success,

the insecurity wrought by failure,

and the ecstasy of revelation.

Through difficult years,

darkened by confused anger,

and in illuminated times of joy,

you've been here.

As I have tested my wings

you have allowed wild flapping,

unregulated flight,

even if it meant getting clipped by an errant wing.

Even when I pull away from you in frustration,

my soul is groping back to you for comfort.

I turn and embrace you as a confused boy;

I turn and leave you as a searching young man.

And someday I will turn again

and see that embracing and leaving are almost the same thing.

One reveals a need that's met in the safety of a hug.

While the other uncovers a need,

met by the assurance of a "Goodbye."

There is no moving out.

For there is no "out" in love.

There is only an everlasting "here".

Wishing all of you moms out there a wonderful Mother's Day!

Diana

xoxo