I will never forget the first time I read Elizabeth Stone’s quote on becoming a parent, “Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” When I read this quote I was stunned..

Moving into this year’s celebration of Mother’s Day I find myself surprised at how at my age I still need the affection and nurture that my mom offers. You may feel the same way when you are faced with life’s inevitable twists and turns. Or maybe when you think of a mother’s love all you feel is a pang in your heart from not ever experiencing this in your own life.

Mother’s Day brings with it such a mixture of emotions, thoughts, expectations and perhaps even triggering memories. You might notice you feel light and tingly excitement – maybe you’re even anticipating your first Mother’s Day. (If so – congratulations!!) There may be a part of you that cringes a little. You’d like the day to pass without a word, without a social media reminder, without interaction with others.

I find Mother’s Day to be a bit of an enigma to me.

As a woman, I wear many different hats when it comes to Mother’s Day. I am a daughter, mother to adult children, step-mother, mother to a teenager and a grandmother. Mother’s Day brings up a whole bunch of things for me!

Welcoming our first two grandchildren and watching while my son becomes a father has been an unexpected, delightful epilogue to motherhood. On the one hand, the love poured into my internal vessel labelled Mom feels full and rich. But there is more to motherhood that I am keenly aware of and particularly sensitive to especially relating to the work I do with clients.

Most of us love a day of acknowledgement and celebration—there are so many benefits to both expressing and receiving love and appreciation. But what about when it’s hard to jump on the celebration train? I want to speak to the ones who can’t get too excited about Mother’s Day for a moment.