Treasure in earthen vessels.

It has been a week of maternal images. A good mother is the greatest gift life can give you, I believe. It makes up for everything else, whatever "else" may be. And having that message and image dominate the national stage and trump world news has made this an amazing week in our lifetime. Of course, I have mothers on the mind most of the time these days. When I see anyone, young or old, with their mother, I think of mine. When someone talks about their Mom I want to tell them about mine. When I contemplate the rest of my life without her, I am undone. I knew when she left that only one thing would keep me afloat - that I was so blessed by heaven to have her as my mother. I would not change that for any other, even though our time together in this world ran out. This is my birthright and keeps me calm when I am seething within because she is not with me anymore.

And I have been  heartened beyond words to see a mother like Governor Palen selected as a representitive of America. It is a symbolic choice of epic proportions. Actually this election is one of epic proportions, and I find myself in a strange place of feeling that I will be very proud, regardless of which side "wins".  But I really just wanted to express my growing gratitude for great mothers and their iconic roles in our lives, and share a facinating article about one of the other amazing mothers we were introduced to this week, Mrs. Roberta McCain, still a "firecracker" at age 96. I think you will find it a great read.

Memorial Days

I wish you could see my Mom’s flower garden, lilies in full bloom, trumpets of ivory, gold and flame. And in the last several weeks the rose bushes in procession have been so heavy with blooms, their boughs arches of scarlet, coral, and pink. As if it is a memorial year for all that she cared for. This year I found out that Memorial Day when you have something to remember is a different kind of day than it used to be. So this is what it really means, this piercing twist of fragrance and thorns: so much to remember and all there is to do now is remember.

Memorial Day evening, as I walked outside, the air around my parents home felt like magic at twilight. A cool perfumed breeze, drifting through lilac trees loaded down with tiny lavender flowers, more abundant than any year before that I can remember. I would have thought the trees would be bare with mourning. But after all, if they know when to blossom in season then they surely know how Mom would be delighted at the sight of her trees, along the driveway and around the house, bursting into waves of purple blooms.

And I like to imagine that my dear little Mom has something to do with it, now that she inhabits time and space with the One for whom the trees of the field clap their hands and the mountains and the hills break forth in singing.

And when the rooms of her earthly home feel so empty without her, I imagine that the celestial halls sparkle with her presence, and she is again with those whom she belonged to long before she belonged to me.

And when I walk along the sloping lawn down to the pond she used to walk around, I imagine that she walks, and watches me from beside another shore. And I wonder about the moment when I will be in her presence again. It is a thought that fills me with longing, because I miss her like a parched ground waits for water to fall.

And of all she left behind I am most grateful for the glimpses of her that I can still see, in the people she loved and those who she taught how to love. You know who you are, all of you  who remember her and surround me with your love. I know now why it written that the "greatest of these is love". It remains when everything else is gone. Her love is still a strong sheltering tree whose leaves will not wither.

Postscript:  It was  ever so nice to see some of my MD family and so many dear ones this weekend, your kind words and affection were a comfort to me.

The Littles

We are lucky enough to have 3 little people underfoot at home these days. And somehow in spite of everything, they make our home a merry place with their mirth and mayhem . I have come to the conclusion that little people are the reason that big people can survive reality. They still know some wonderful secret that we used to know but cant quite remember. They are the cheerful givers of gifts we are too poor to give in our desperation to get things done. Gifts like smiles, hugs, and expressions of gratitude that we forsake in our grim determination to take things for granted.

Anna is three and has the gift of the gab, wonder who she got that from? She is the official greeter at the door, whoever comes, from the medical supply delivery man to her favorite Sonia Aunty, all are greeted with enthusiasm and worthy of introductions. This morning she surprised me with a big hug and said "I am glad I live here."!!!

Andrew is two and also shows indications of future gabbiness, as he talks quite a lot in his limited but ever growing vocabulary which amazingly includes Malayalam to the credit of his wise mama. My favorite is his name for his little cousin Lilia: Yah-yah. He is a sturdy little chap who went from being a serious little owl to an ever-smiling sunbeam and so far shows no evidence of the terrible two’s.

Lilia at 9 months is a roly-poly ball of motion who seems like she is going to be pushing her big sister around before long. This baby girl is tough, and strong, and in a big hurry to grow up. No baby food for her. Don’t even mash it up, she wants real bites to munch on between her toothless gums. When Anna tries to pick her up it is almost hard to tell who is holding who, that is how strong Yah-yah is.

Though they are surrounded by grownups and outnumbered 3:1, the little people are without doubt the moral majority. And when you give them a moment, they help you find all those things you lost sometime since you woke up this morning - like sanity and simplicity and serendipity.

For an artistic view of the little dumplings,  as captured by photojournalist SAK

Well done is better than well said. — Benjamin Franklin

Amazing aerial view of  Kovalam Beach and the Arabian Sea along the coast of Kerala