2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 1 book toward her goal of 285 books.
hide

2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 5 books toward her goal of 265 books.
hide

An Ode to Mother’s Day (Literally)

An Ode: “Created by Pindar out of the traditional forms of Greek tragedy, the ode is generally defined as a rhymed poem of irregular meter that praises its subject. The English ode consists of an undefined number of 10-line stanzas.”

An Ode to Mother’s Day (Literally)

So Mother’s Day is almost here
and I still do not have a gift for my mother.
I struggle to find something special every year
that says what I want (in one way or another).
Surely I cannot be the only daughter who struggles with this,
trying to figure out how to say thank you
and I love you with things.
Standard fare – flowers, candy – always seems like a near miss,
inadequate recognition of all that they do
and all that their love and support brings.

It is hard to find a gift that represents what a mother means to you.
How do you thank someone for your life,
for holding your hand while you grew,
for helping as you transition from child to wife?
How do you say that you appreciate all they’ve done
and recognize the sacrifices and challenges they underwent
bringing you into and helping you through the world of here and now?
How do you tell someone
that all the things that they have meant,
given, and said are what got you here – even if you have no idea how.

A mother and a daughter do not always see eye to eye –
Two women rarely do, after all.
But I always knew you were there, ready to try
to catch me even when you knew all you could do was watch me fall.
How on earth do I find something that repays
this in a store or online?
You let me grow and learn to be strong.
You taught me that there would be bad days
but that everything would, eventually, fall in line.
You let me be me even when you thought I was wrong.

And so on this Mother’s Day
I will sit with you and try to explain what I feel.
I don’t know if I will find the right words or say
anything at all; I may just sit a little closer than usual. Emotion that is real
is not easy for me – it never has been, never will be.
But even if I do not show it in obvious ways,
never doubt that I do love you
in my own way, at my own speed, as me.
Or that I know you are with me, through ups and downs, nights and days
loving me as only you do.

***
Well, I’m certainly no poet (and don’t I know it – teehee), but I made a valiant attempt nonetheless. Amazing, it is not – but genuine, it is. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

5 comments to An Ode to Mother’s Day (Literally)

Leave a Reply to A Slightly Odd Homage to Fathers Or “Hey, She’s Doing it Again!” | All Things Jill-Elizabeth Cancel reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>