Daily dose of positive, Mother’s Day edition 5/11/25

Today is a tough day for most all of us. We all have a mother. Half of us are mothers. The other half lost a wife. I know there is a community that does not fit into the traditional man/women relationship, but let’s not make today too political. We can appreciate roles people play in raising children, regardless of sex, marital status or biological contribution. Today is the day we celebrate those whose role is “mom”.

My mom’s health is and has been a struggle for years. She went in for surgery about 3-4 years ago and never was healthy enough to return home living alone. She’s been stuck in assisted living 250 miles from home. She misses her grandchildren and we try to send pictures, videos and visit as often as we can. It really isn’t enough. She’s lonely and misses the kids terribly.

My kids don’t really know her. They don’t have a relationship with her. They were too young when she left, and they don’t feel that connection to her.

It makes me terribly sad for them and her. While I won’t inflate how great of a mom she was, she was my mom, and I wish my children knew her better. Likely, mom won’t be around much longer and then her story ends and the chance for a relationship is gone. I’m sad my kids will miss on my side of the family, almost completely.

My wife and their mom isn’t going to be a huge figure in their lives, either. They were 10 and 6 when she passed. They’ll have memories but not enough.

My wife loved kids much more than I did. She worked with children and wanted children all of her life, while I never was around kids or gave much thought to them until I was in my 30’s. She was supremely confident in all her decisions about the kids while I question most of my decisions and parenting ability. I lose my temper and yell while she was calm and steady with them. They are missing the better half of our parenting duo and their memories are all they have. Those are fading, too.

Whether you are a mom or not, whether you had a good mom or not, let’s be thankful for the people served as “moms” for all of us. The ones who braided hair, loved flowers, rubbed booboo’s or whatever it was she did for you. We all need mom.

Everyone is welcome to share, but let’s try to keep it positive. We all have plenty of negative in our lives already.