My earliest childhood memories are of being aware that my Mother, Vera Goebel Anderson, was always there. When I couldn’t find her, I can remember the feeling of utter panic, the emptiness, the terror of being alone. Of course that didn’t last long because she was, in fact, always within hearing distance, and very quickly responded to my frantic cries. If my Mother wasn’t in the house cleaning, cooking, mending, ironing, canning, sewing or any other indoor activity required of a woman in the early to mid 20th century, she was either working in the one acre garden that provided nearly all our food, or laboring at the old ringer type washing machine laundering our clothes and hanging them on the clothes line to dry.
As I got older, she taught me to crochet, embroider and sew. She encouraged creativity and innovation. Presents for special occasions were all hand made with lots of love and care, usually from scraps and what we now call recycled items. She helped us make presents for other members of the family when we were too young to make them ourselves, but we were always a part of the gift we gave.
My Mother has been gone now for nearly thirty years, yet she is still “always there.” Her memory lives within me and is always present to cheer me on or offer encouragement. To this day I will see something that I know she would have liked or discover something “new” and have the urge to tell her about it.
Mother Earth
Although our birth mothers may be gone, we all have a mother that is ever present and nourishes and provides for us. She is called Earth. She requires a little interaction in order to provide for us, and to this end we plant seeds or seedlings and water and feed them. They in turn grow into plants that either feed us, provide us “medicine,” or provide shade, exchange carbon monoxide for oxygen, clean and purify our air and/or provide beauty during their growing and flowering season.
Since my Mother has been gone, Mother’s Day is a little empty for me even though I have five wonderful children who generously, graciously, and lovingly acknowledge me. To fill that void, I have started planting something on Mother’s day to honor all the mothers who have gone on as well as those still living. It is usually a perennial plant, either a tree, shrub, or sometimes just an herb or flower that will come back year after year. As I look around my yard, I see the ones that have lived and given back to me and remember the ones that just couldn’t grow in this harsh area without much more care than I could give them, and as I do I honor and remember all those wonderful mothers that once graced our lives and now live on in our memories.
As you look out over your yard, or drive around your neighborhood, observe the beautiful plants that enhance your life. You can liken them to your children. You love, nurture, protect and care for them and they bring beauty, joy and wonder into your life. Remember your Mother who loved, nurtured, protected, and cared for you and, in one way or another, brought you to the place you are today. Mother’s Day is a wonderful day of commemoration, but Mothers should be celebrated every day. Where would we be without them?
