by Jeanni Ritchie
I remember going to church services where flowers were handed out on Mother’s Day. There were different colors- red if your mother was alive and white if she was no longer living. I always took for granted having my mom on earth with me as I grabbed my red rose.
Now, with so many others my age visiting a cemetery on Mother’s Day, I am thankful for every one I get to spend with her.
In my mind, a white rose is devoid of color just as a family loses its life force when the matriarch dies. Mothers are an integral part of the fabric of family.
I know mine is.
There isn’t a childhood memory where my Mom wasn’t front and center. She was singing in the choir loft at every Calvary Baptist Sunday Service. It was her kindergarten classroom I’d come to after school every day at Cabrini. It was her bedroom door I’d go to when I was convinced monsters lived under my bed at night.
My mom cooked dinner every evening, recipes I lovingly recreate for her now. She organized every birthday party I ever had, an annual themed event (think Raggedy Ann and Holly Hobbie) where she spared no detail down to the character napkins.
She organized our family vacations, bought our favorite snacks, kept our den stocked with board games and books, and even played referee when my sister and I would fight.
One of the things we appreciated the most was how she ALWAYS kept a little coin purse filled with quarters in the laundry room for when the ice cream truck came by!
Another thing that shaped us into who we are today is her love of family. She made sure we had lots of grandparent and aunt and uncle time, even though our relatives didn’t live nearby. Our holidays and summers were spent traveling to Baton Rouge or Kansas, something I didn’t fully appreciate until I was knee deep into packing with kids of my own. Yet she never once complained. If she’d have rather stayed home I never knew. Family mattered more.
This commitment to family has trickled down through the generations and is why we often have big get-togethers for little occasions. My mom taught us all the value of strong family ties.
I suppose that’s why the great-grandkids make a beeline for her when they visit, usually with fistfuls of wildflowers in hand.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
Mother’s Day is celebrated each year in the United States on the second Sunday in May.
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
