Motherless Mother's day!

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The smaller one is the older one, the bigger one is the younger one. C & M, College Girl and Moody Teen. My Brood. My Mother's Day.

It has been a pretty uneventful Mother's Day here in Brooklyn. For that, I am thankful. I am old enough to enjoy and relish the idea that everything is fine, everyone is healthy and we are all together on a beautiful sunny Sunday.
An acquaintance recently told me that our children are here because of us, so we better do right by them. Interesting viewpoint. I have been doing right by my children since 1987, when the first was born. They may argue with me on that point, but I know I have been doing more than right by them. Mothering is a hard job. It is also pretty thankless and discouraging sometimes. Though the thought has occurred to me more than once, it is a job that one cannot walk away from. It is also an effort without guarantees. Parents can only hope that their efforts are enough to make their children grow into successful adults. Or simply into nice, happy and healthy people.
I love my two. I could not imagine a life without them. I hope that throughout their lives, they will remember all the lessons I taught them, the way I remember the ones my mother ingrained in me. I am who I am because of my mother's love. I wish I could tell her Happy Mother's Day. But this is the fourth Mother's Day without her. It is not the same and will never be again. I think she would have been proud of the adult I became.