Happy Mother's Day!

“Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud.”

I love Maya Angelou. She is a courageous, inspiring woman who speaks to all people, telling it just how it is. One of her books is titled “Letters to my Daughter”. Can you believe that she doesn't even have a daughter? She wrote a book for a daughter she doesn't have! Here is a passage from this book's introduction.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution. Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood. Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity. I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are black and white, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”

Wow. The whole world is her family, and she has the voice and confidence to mother us all. We are all Maya Angelou's daughters. If only we all could break out of our shells and look beyond our personal lives to remember that we are all interconnected, all of the time.

I am so fortunate to have a mother that upholds these virtues that Maya Angelou advises. She taught these things to me in a way even more challenging to do than speak them; she modeled them through her actions. She is a mother to anyone who needs one. Courageous, compassionate, uncomplaining, patient, and exceptionally humble. She couldn't have done anything differently or better in raising us. I am forever grateful that my life began with her in it.

These days, when you go to the store to buy a Mother's Day card for your mother, you have to search past the Mother's Day cards for aunts, sisters, friends, daughters, grandparents, expecting mothers, etc. It's not just about your own mom anymore, it's about all the moms you know. This makes me reflect on the women in my life, all of them. Not just my mother, but my grandmothers, aunts, sister, mother-in-law, close friends. All of them have had an influence on my life. They are all compassionate, loving beings that I am thankful to know. The awareness of my connection to others is an important entity in my life; not just those people I know who have influenced my life, but total strangers who I meet in passing, read about in books, or only have a vague idea of. They are all mothers or at least daughters. They are all just like me. We are all sharing the vibration of this beautiful life.

I am beyond blessed to have my two spectacular daughters, and to have the opportunity to be a mother to them, my life intertwined with theirs. I could go on and on and on about how wonderful and complete my life is with these wonderful children in it. Trust me, it's all there. Today I will savor the privilege of being a mother to them, just as I do every day. But this is not about me, and was never about me. I am yet one tree in a forest of other strong trees, who have influenced my growth and allowed me to form my own shape, sheltered and altered by the other women in my life, especially my own mother. They have given me the strength and space to stand tall above the saplings who have chosen to take root under me, blessing me with their own strength, as we together form an ever-evolving community.

This year, this is what Mother's Day means to me. It's far greater than the small but infinitely extraordinary cocoon of my own children and family.

That said, I have been a terrible daughter this Mother's Day because I wasn't able to manage getting cards in the mail! My only excuse is “post-vacation brain”, an unfortunate but very real affliction. So, to make up for the lack of sappy cards for the grandmothers of my children, I am gifting a last-minute attempt to invoke tears from those wonderful women who have earned the titles of “Grammy” and “Nana”, as well as anyone else who is taking the time to read this far. The following videos were taken on the first day of my life as a mother, nearly 10 years ago in an orphanage in Viet Nam. No baby was ever more divine, magnificent and adorable as this one, especially on that day. Dan pulled this video out from who-knows-where yesterday; I hadn't seen it in years! Enjoy!