Over the 38 years that I have been penning and publishing my weekly column, I have written a plethora of Mother’s Day messages.
Many centered on the travails of raising five feisty, highly energetic and divergent-thinking sons – who came up with more ways to hide beer in the back yard bushes than I would have ever thought possible.
Many columns centered on poking good-humored fun at my own mother. When my sister’s and my housekeeping standards didn’t measure up to hers, my mom would invariably comment: I don’t know how YOU PEOPLE live like this! (We managed.)
Or I’d glorify the feats of moms who were able to breast feed, prepare healthy, delicious dinners and run multi-national corporations all at the same time. (None of which I ever came close to achieving)
It’s just two days away from Mother’s Day 2024 and I am in a more pensive mood.
Maybe it’s got to do with the rampant anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head worldwide. Maybe it’s got to do with my up binge watching into the wee hours of the night “We Were the Lucky Ones” now streaming on Hulu – one Polish family’s story of separation and survival during the Holocaust.
And no maybes – FOR SURE – it’s got something to do with my upcoming trip to Poland in less than one week.
I’m not figuring out which shoes are most comfortable to pack or which novel I’ll bring on board to read during the flight. I’m not focused on Warsaw’s Galar Cruise on the Vistula and Krakow’s Wawel Castle. I’m obsessing over Poland’s tragic history of annihilating my people – not its highlights, its beauty and its wonders.
So here I sit on my lovely second story, covered porch – being pleasantly cooled by my ceiling fan, sipping a freshly brewed hot cup of coffee while overlooking the lushness of my own back yard. I am seemingly secure, safe and insulated from the ugliness of the chaotic world.
But am I secure, safe and insulated?
Are my children secure, safe and insulated?
Are my grandchildren secure, safe and insulated?
I think not.
What can we do about the chaos? The hate and bigotry?
The killing and the violence?
We start:
- By treating those we employ and interact with in a kind manner
- By listening and discoursing with an open mind in a dignified way
- By staying informed and aware
- By supporting individuals running for office who exemplify the ideals we hold close
- By contributing our time and resources to causes which enhance our fellow human beings’ safety and security
- By talking to our children and grandchildren about their ancestors’ challenges, triumphs, values and principles
- By taking care of ourselves so that we can take care of others
- By recognizing that G-d gave women the unique ability to create a life from a group of cells. Surely we can use our energies and our resources to ensure that we do all that we can to enhance and preserve both the lives we have created and all the lives of those peace seeking humans who inhabit this earth with us.
And we can celebrate the good times – starting with Mother’s Day.
Keep Preserving Your Bloom, 