Mother’s Day (and Father’s Day) are multilayered holidays. We celebrate, remember, mourn, avoid, look forward to, revel in, ignore– our reactions run the gamut of emotions.
My own mother is almost 83 years old. Our relationship has certainly run the gamut of emotions. She has had life-long mental illness, with all the strife that brings. That is not all she has brought to our relationship, though. My memories of fun with my mom include:
- learning to play tennis at age 7 with her
- riding bikes out to my aunt and uncle’s house in the country
- going to the beach for the day, swimming in the ocean, heading home salty and satisfied
- hearing about her adventures at the new gym in town, looking forward to being old enough to go with her
- swimming at the local pool in summers, her looking up from her magazine, checking on me
- tent camping and cooking on a camp stove, both of which yielded mixed results
I don’t have a lot of physical activity memories of my mom from my adulthood. She became less interested in swimming, tennis, outdoor walks, and instead we would drive to local parks and gardens and walk to see what was in bloom. We still do this, and it’s a nice experience for both of us.
My adulthood looks completely different from my mother’s on multiple fronts. I’ve been more physically active, more professionally active and more socially active. I plan to continue in the same fashion, and will adjust as needed. This is something I have also learned from my mother– when circumstances change abruptly, make adjustments, course corrections. She is still navigating life with a sense of openness to change, and I want that for myself, too.
I wish us all agility and nimbleness in our course corrections, today and moving forward.
Happy Mother’s Day.
