I seem to be stuck on Mother’s Day this month and the yin and yang of it. Judith Voirst is one of my favorite writers. What follows is an open letter she wrote to her son and was published by the New York Times in 2005.
That extravagant expressions of affection
Do not necessarily mean that our children adore us,
Or that their failure to write or phone or do lots of lovely things for us
Means that they don’t.
I am, in addition, well aware
That most of the wise, mature, sensible women I know
Have nothing but disdain for Mother’s Day,
Which they rightfully declare to be a crass, commercial way
Of getting guilty children to spend money.
Furthermore, I am hoping that I
Will turn into one of those wise, mature, sensible women
Long before this current decade is through.
But meanwhile, if you know what’s good for you,
Send flowers.
