Sunday is Mother’s Day 2014…

“Well, at least that’s the way WE remember it! Happy Mother’s Day!

You probably know that this Sunday, May 11th, is Mother’s Day. Right?

Given the amount of television advertising, online ads and hard copy newspaper ads it is pretty hard to miss. If you walk into a grocery store, drug store, restaurant or even peruse your email inbox you will see signs Mother’s Day is coming. We are told that Americans will spend close to $20 billion to honor their mothers, grandmothers, their children’s mothers and more. And of course, in today’s world people will often change their Facebook profile photo to be a photo of their mom. You might even feel guilty if you don’t go out of your way to recognize your mom on Facebook.

But as important as it may seem to recognize your mom on Mother’s Day, it is also equally important to understand that not everyone’s mom is living and not everyone has a loving relationship with their mom. Just the other day an associate mentioned as she was checking out at her hair salon she was asked if she wanted to purchase gift certificates for her mother as a gift for Mother’s Day…the only response she could think to say was, “Well, sadly, both my mother and mother-in-law are deceased.” Admittedly, it was awkward.

Not everyone will celebrate with a family brunch…

It’s true…honoring our mothers can take many avenues. This is particularly true when our moms don’t always live near by. As we thought about this today we decided to read how others might celebrate with their moms. We came across some interesting articles:

• Mother’s Day – For many women, it’s a reminder of absence and loss – Family-focused holidays can be hard in general for some, but on the merry day set aside for mothers, infertility, the early loss of a mother or a strained relationship due to a mother’s incarceration, addiction or mental illness is tender ground.
  Let alone the potential strain on singles still looking for love when Mother’s Day rolls around, or women living childless by choice who feel the weight of the holiday’s marketing machine. 
• Kids reunite with incarcerated moms ahead of Mother’s Day – Three generations of La France women got 4 1/2 precious hours together at Folsom Women’s Facility east of Sacramento more than a week before Mother’s Day, which is Sunday. It happened through a free, nonprofit program called Get on the Bus that arranges for children to visit their incarcerated parents in California prisons around Mother’s and Father’s days.
• Moms United to End the War on Drugs Launches a New Campaign: ‘Ask Mom…How to Save a Life’ – Mothers from around the country are devoting Mother’s Day and the month of May to a campaign for greater awareness and access to naloxone, a safe, non-narcotic drug that can reverse an accidental opiate overdose. They are telling their personal stories of drug war damage with video stories, articles and interviews.

#AskMom – How to Save a Life

If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can see it here. They also have a Facebook group page.

Some final thoughts…

This Mother’s Day many mothers will be in treatment for addiction, as well as many sons, daughters and grandchildren. It is important to remember they are safe and working on their recovery.

Recovery is a gift and it works!