Thoughts on Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is approaching. Mother’s Day can be complicated. I cried an ugly cry when I found out that our third child’s due date was on Mother’s Day. They were tears of gratitude and tears of sorrow. Tears that held in them the hopes of my friends who are still longing to be mamas. Tears that acknowledged the losses we’d faced during a decade of infertility. They were tears that remembered patients that I had said goodbye to over the years and their mamas who miss them to no end. They were tears because we are entering the season of life in which our friends are saying goodbye to their own mamas more and more often. Mother’s Day can be complicated.

Maybe you or someone you love is living in the midst of the pain of infertility. Mother’s Day can be complicated.

Maybe someone you love is missing their mama and this holiday is triggering. Maybe someone you love has lost a child. Maybe that someone is you. Mother’s Day can be complicated.

Maybe your relationship with your mom or with your own child involves abuse or addiction or mental illness. Mother’s Day can be complicated.

Maybe your kids are thriving and you are over the moon for them but you find yourself wondering if other moms feel this anxious/exhausted/sad. Mother’s Day can be complicated.

Or maybe you are in a healthy and loving place in your life and relationships. BE THERE NOW. Soak it in. There are seasons of life and this one is a gift. Enjoy it as fully as you are able.

It is entirely possibly that you are holding multiple of these realities in your heart and mind together. They are not mutually exclusive. You are loved in the messy middle of your story and right where you’re at. You are not alone.

I’ve created some empathy cards if you know someone who you would like to remember and honor as this holiday approaches. They are absolutely free — print as many as you’d like. You can download the PDF here. May we be people who mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. Life can be hard but it does not need to be lonely. You are loved.