MOTHER'S DAY 2005
I had plans for a nice Mother's Day gift. Jack (one of my housemates) and I were going to rebuild a garden seat my mom loved that needed to have all it boards replaced.
I knew it was going to be a job so I went Friday to pick it up. But mom, 77, wanted me to mow the front yard, you know, so it would look good for the holiday.
I went yesterday to pick up the seat but mom asked me to edge and trim the lawn because the grass had grown out a bit over the sidewalks and she so wanted it to look nice. I did this, avoiding the temptation to trim her a little in the process, then grabbed the bench and brought it home, grumbling all the way.
Jack and I didn't get started until 5:00 and I knew we would never get the job done in time. As night fell, I came inside. We had barely gotten started and I felt defeated.
A short time later there was a knock on the door. It was my father, 79, who, seeing my frustration, had remembered me while out shopping and found a beautiful tiny jeweled dragonfly pin he knew my mom would enjoy. "Here." He said. "I thought you might like to give this to your mother tomorrow." I was so thankful for his thoughtfulness and generosity.
I found a little box and wrapped the pin. Then I tried to think of how to make it personal. I decided to make her a card, a little thing that would make her smile.
I took her my little gift this morning and she was so happy. She proudly wore the pin on her church outfit and as she was leaving I noticed her slip my little card into her purse. I cringed thinking how many of her friends would be giggling at this 48 year-old's artwork. (The backward K is something I have done when signing all her cards since I was eight.)
Later, I was working on a video to send out today as my Mother's day card to the Steadfast group. I had finally decided to use the scene where Carolyn came home after running away from her mother's wedding to Jason McGuire. I wasn't happy with the scene and couldn't decide what to do.
Carol (my other housemate) had seen me working on the card for mom and said, "I think you ought to scan that little card for your group." I was astonished but Jack concurred so I borrowed back the little card and scanned it.
After the scan I was working with the images, trying to get them to line up and work as an animation and generally grumbling about the dorkiness of the card compared with the sophisticated video I had anticipated. Jack tapped me on the shoulder. "You just don't get it do you?" Distracted, I glanced at him. "Get what?" That's when I noticed the tear on his cheek. He shook his head. "Did your mom smile when you gave it to her?" I laughed. "Yeah, I think she got a kick out of it." He turned away and spoke with his back turned. "Do you have any idea how much I would give to see my mother smile just one more time?"
That's when it hit me. Jack lost his father over a decade ago and his mother passed a couple of years back. Carol's mom died not three weeks ago at 86 with her family around her. The simple act of making a gift card, or edging my mom's stupid sidewalk or just saying hello that I so take for granted were things they could never do again.
So, I humbly offer my stupid joke card to all of you in memory of all the hundreds of moments, stupid and sublime, you shared with your moms. I offer it in gratitude for your friendship and in hopes it will bring a smile to you as well.
Words cannot express how thankful I am to have both of my parents alive and nearby. They are beautiful, irritating, loving and at times downright exasperating but I wouldn't have it any other way!!
God bless you all on this special day,
Mike
Here's mom on a label we made a couple
of years ago for her home made plum jelly.
Have trouble seeing or hearing the card? Try:
http://www.codelphia.com/cards/2005MDay/
Click here for a full-length stereo version of song.