Today is Mother’s Day in the United States. It is a day when many moms are served burnt toast and runny eggs prepared by their devoted offspring; others get taken out for brunch. Every mom celebrates differently–some spend their day with the kids, and some go out and pamper themselves, leaving the kids at home with dad.
My motherhood was hard won. My son was conceived with in vitro fertilization, after five years of treatment for “unspecified infertility.” I suppose it is partly for that reason that I always choose to spend Mother’s Day with him–even though he’s almost a teenager and becoming a bit snottier with each passing day, he will always be my little miracle.
My mother raised me and my sister alone, and with the help of her own mother. She taught us to be independent and strong, nurturing and kind. She also taught us that everything will usually turn out just fine in the end. Optimism doesn’t come easy to me, but keeping that attitude in my head helps me weather the storms that life inevitably brings.
So to my own mother, mother-in-law, and all the mothers, expectant mothers, and hopeful mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day.