Motherdom!!!

Happy Motherdom Day to all...and being somewhat non-traditional at times, so are my thoughts about this title!

My mom, Flo, is the epitome of steadfast and unwavering love for her children...Paul and I are her biggest fans here on earth, and my brother Tommy is preparing the party of angels in the heavens for that time when their reunion will bring both lives full circle.

Mothers have very diverse personnas, and it is fate...chance...karma...you could call it destiny that places the mother/child duo together as a pair. That cannot be changed: such is life. Some mothers come by it naturally; some don't get it. Life is a learning experience, regardless of the mood of the lesson. Yet the role can be assumed in other ways by ' creating close ties' that inherently reflect 'mothering'.

Certainly adoptive mothers gain rights to 'Motherdom' [a relative of 'kingdom']. I know many people who have adopted children from within a family or from a different country. Some have done the legal paperwork; some have taken on motherdom because there was a child's needs which became front and center.

Foster mothers step up to help fill a void for children. Often a lifeline to a kid in crisis or family home in crisis, foster moms help troubled kids 'hold their ground'. Not an easy role due to the fact that often the kids come accompanied by a lot of baggage.
There are people who get drafted to the team. Mine is the mother on my 'sister by choice' [Janet]. I am child #10 in their family for 40+ years.

Teachers, especially elementary teachers, assume the daytime shift in guiding and nurturing 'our kids' as well as teaching the state's objectives and agenda. When you reflect on the fact that teachers spend more time within the child's waking hours than their parents, suddenly the power of this job is evident. Something that I took seriously, for sure.

Proxy Moms can be aunts, neighbors, day care providers, coaches, and/or angels who assume a caring nature with the little people who are in their charge. Adults, too, respond to a caring attitude as it reaches to the inner child in all of us. And while caring for Flo who is in her 90's, I see similarities in the sunset of life that are kindred to the earlier years.

Select secretaries can be the glue of the workplace solving various issues for many people in all kinds of scenarios. Our 'firing squad discreet' trustworthy school secretary was priceless and her 'motherdom' reached the employees, the children, the parents, and the general public...even the 'fixer' of the copying machine loved a call to our building!! All within Motherdom's reign.

As I write this, Amazing Grace, [adopted poodle who had already given birth to a litter of dachshunds...thereby making her a Mom], is giving my mom kisses which causes Flo to giggle and smile. They are quite the dynamic duo, and it is 'a beautiful thang'!!

And let us not forget Mother Nature. We would not survive without her, and yet her powers are awesome in both good and bad ways.

My personal and literal Mother's Day was the day when I got to see, hold, and smile at my son. A 'frozen in time' snapshot in my mind, especially since when I was up to my elbows in alligators [that would be hours of labor], I ...maybe... for a moment or two ...had lost the focus of the purpose at hand.

And then....there was Jer.

Presently, there may be an adopted daughter or two that I have chosen to add to my motherdom. I think that it is not necessarily a 'right of passage' [get it?] that bestows Motherdom; it is a state of mind.

So, Happy Motherdom Day Everyone! Share the love. It is not a private a club-everyone is welcome.