One of our happier holidays, coming at the happiest time of the year, Mother’s Day arrives when Mother Earth is at her most full and beautiful – all promise and hope of summer lying just ahead, and oodles of lilacs and peonies about to burst forth in perfumed splendor. When I was a little kid, I’d go out on the Saturday night before Mother’s Day, sneak up the sidewalk to the large stand of ancient lilacs near the top of our street, and stealthily pull off a few branches of blooms. Hurrying back home with this stash of stolen flowers, I’d carefully and quietly slide in through the side door of the kitchen and put them in a vase, where Mom would find them first thing in the morning. Along with a hand-made card, this was the extent of my gift-giving at that young age, and it was the most I could do.
These days she gets tickets to Broadway shows, but it’s the lilacs that I remember most fondly. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom – I love you.
