Today's my mom's birthday. I always get stressed about finding the perfect gift to give her. This year was no different. I spent all day Sunday shopping for her. What was different for me this year, however, was the fact that for the first time, I gave serious consideration to who my mother really is - seeing her beyond a mother, but as a person, a woman with her own unique complexities. I think that we are all guilty of forgetting about the human sides of our parents. We tend to put them in a box of mother, wife, and nurturer and forget that they are so much more than that. When I recall my childhood there are things that now standout to me, which give me a perspective on my mother the person. She would play Terrance Trent Darby and Loose Ends and Annie Lenox - eclectic taste in a small town in South Georgia. She road her bike on the weekends, indulged in long bathes and has always had a standing hair appointment every Friday morning. She's always been spiritual, never religious. Saturdays were always our day. We would go out for lunch and shop or go to the park or visit my grandparents. She never leaves the house without sunglasses (her favorite ones are the Chloe ones I got her a few years ago), a compact and an ensemble that says "I have somewhere to be." She smokes a cigarette a day - always after dinner. These are all telling signs into her personality that I had never really considered. I addition to her being an amazingly caring person, I can move forward with greater appreciation for the unique person she is in her totality. Love you Mommy!
We are here to speak your names because of the way you made for us. Because of the prayers you prayed for us. We are the ones you conjured up, hoping we would have strength enough, and discipline enough, and talent enough, and nerve enough to step into the light when it turned in our direction, and just smile awhile. We are the ones you hoped would make you proud because all of our hard work makes all of yours part of something better, truer, deeper. Something that lights the way ahead like a lamp unto our feet, as steady as the unforgettable beat of our collective heart. -Pearl Cleage
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