Sunday, May 10, 2020

If you can't say something nice by Liz Flaherty #RomanceGems

Since today is Mother's Day, I decided I'd get extra use out of this post that's already doing the rounds. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Happy Mother's Day!


I don’t really mind the social distancing of these strange days. I don’t mind wearing a mask when I’m going to be among others. My hair and my nails…well, they don’t look very good, and I’ll be glad to see Denee and Julie again, but they don’t actually bother me, either. I can wait until the end of the getting back to business line because no one I know bases their opinion of me on my hair and nails. Or, if they do, they probably aren’t people I need in my life. I am—sigh—of a certain age, and caution just makes sense to me. It’s not—let me say that again, NOT—the same as fear.

We haven’t run out of toilet paper. I haven’t even fought with anyone in the personal-needs aisle of a grocery store over the last four-pack, although one day I did indeed buy the last four-pack. I’m growing used to using whatever brand of facial tissue I can find, because the spots where Kleenex and Puffs live are always empty. I miss them, the Puffs and Kleenex and the Charmin toilet paper, but I miss having smooth skin, too, and I’ve learned to be perfectly happy without it.

Like that skin, I kind of doubt that life as we knew it will ever return completely. Just as every other catastrophe has affected us, so will this one. I don’t know, sadly enough, if we will learn from it or not. We aren’t even able to get the basics down. Love your neighbor. Do no harm. Tell the truthLive and let live.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I’m going to slip something right in here that I wrote for a blog post somewhere else. You won’t even see the seams—promise!



“Being a mom has made me so tired. And so happy.” – Tina Fey

I’ve never been able to settle Mother’s Day down into that one Sunday of the year. Make no mistake, I like hearing from my kids on the actual day. If I’ve heard from all of them by day’s end, it makes the sunset of that day all the better and brighter and…I don’t know, calmer. (Which is decidedly odd, because I don’t recall ever having a calm day while they were growing up.)

The truth of the matter, though, is that most of my Mother’s Days haven’t been on the second Sunday in May. No, it’s been more like this.

Y  The days they were born. I don’t need to explain that one, do I?
Y  The days they graduated.
Y  The evenings they sat on the porch with me and watched sunsets.
Y  The mornings my sons crawled out of bed and helped me get my car unstuck from the snow so that I could go to work.
Y  The day after my mother’s passing when I told my mother-in-law that I no longer had anyone who would love me no matter what. And my mother-in-law said, “You still have me.”
Y  The day my daughter, daughters-in-law, granddaughters, and I lay on a bed in a vacation rental and laughed and talked.
Y  The days lately when my daughter has gone to the grocery store for me because, as her brother says, her dad and I are in the “high risk” group.
Y  The blissful days that have made me a grandmother seven times.
Y  Every day. Every day you’re a mom, no matter who it’s to—giving birth doesn’t have a lot to do with it—you have somebody to love who loves you back. Even on the days you don’t like each other.

I’ve reached the time when I am the matriarch (although I’m not at all crazy about that word) on our particular branch of the family tree. I still miss my mom and mother-in-law, but am so glad that I had them. They were glad to have had me, too, and that’s a nice thing to know.

Not every second Sunday in May has been a happy day, just as every day as a mother hasn’t been a happy one—I had three teenagers at one time; of course they weren’t all good days! But when I look back and count up my fortunately few regrets, being a mom is never on the list.

Wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day. All of them.

There, didn’t see a thing, did you? My life is so much better with cut-and-paste in it! I’ve thought so much about my mom lately. I cut lilacs at the farm where I grew up—they were always her favorites. And mine. I’ve thought of my mother-in-law and how much I miss her. I’m so grateful to have had them both.

And my mind keeps going back to those basics. Love your neighbor. Do no harm. Tell the truthLive and let live. And another one, said by Thumper’s mom, If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. These are things all mothers—including rabbit ones, apparently—have been saying all along. They’re as right now as they ever were.

As we go through this time and come out on the other side of it, we need to remember those things. We need to relearn how to listen, how to embrace and mean it, and how not to do harm. We can do without Charmin, Kleenex, Puffs, and smooth skin--we can't do without kindness and all that goes with it.

Have a great week. Be safe. Be nice to somebody.

Yikes, I forgot to add the link to the monthly giveaway. Romance in Bloom!




22 comments:

  1. Beautifully written!! Happy Mother's Day!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I still worry about my children even though they are adults. Once a mother, you're always a mother. Happy Mother's Day to all moms.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Mother's Day! You have a great list. It's easy to forget those greats. May everyone have many more in their lives.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Mother's Day! The rafflecopter form is still not letting me enter that I commented on the post. I even logged out and then logged back in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I forgot to add a link. I've done that now--I hope it will let you enter. Thanks for coming by!

      Delete
  5. Lovely post as always Liz. I'm sending this link to my daughters, who need to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a lovely post, Liz! Brought tears to my eyes. How lucky your children are to have you for a mom. Such a great list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you. I think I've been the lucky one.

      Delete
  7. Lovely and eloquent as always. Kindness is key.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kathleen. It is, isn't it? Although I didn't catch onto that until the end. That's one of the fun things about writing, isn't it?

      Delete
  8. Beautiful post, Liz and so timely and wise!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such a beautiful post, Liz. ❤️❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well that's such a lovely post! My teens made me breakfast, and my six year old made me a card. I'm one of those moms who really really loves the homemade aspect, and my kiddos delivered without me even asking! Like you, my sunset was a wee bit brighter:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like some of the best of home-grown perfection there, Laura. I'm glad for you!

      Delete
  11. Liz, that's incredibly beautiful and wise. I heartily wish everyone would take your advice. Love your neighbor. Do no harm. Tell the truth. Live and let live.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Joan. Sadly enough, too many people think they're just words that sound pretty--not ones that apply to them.

      Delete
  12. Really like this post, will always keep it in mind. Being nice to yourself and others is a virtue.

    ReplyDelete

Due to the high volume of Spam comments, we are forced to install Comment Moderation and Word Verification. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.