Celebrating Mother's Day

Celebrating Mother’s Day was always a very big thing when I was a child. Mama deserved to be celebrated; so we did. Dad bought her a corsage and bouquet, along with a very flowery card. We kids gave her and Bubby homemade cards, actually cards made in school. 

Lilacs played a very big part of our Mother’s Days then. They blossomed in our garden at home and are fixed in my mind as inextricably linked to that day in particular. People in our family didn’t go out to eat then except for a special occasion. For Mother's Day, we mostly  to The Spinning Wheel. That restaurant on a farm on the outskirts of Chicago had lilac trees with winding paths. These we'd wonder after our meal. It also had a gift shop, which included boxes of chocolate covered ants! (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-13/news/ct-hinsdale-spinning-wheel-torn-down-20131213_1_restaurant-theme-park-exhibit)

The dinner menu (dinner on Sunday was midday), included prime rib, salmon, chicken, mashed potatoes, appetizers such as cottage cheese and peaches, corn niblets, very Americana. It was served by waiters, not in a buffet line. To us it seemed very fancy. And Mama and Bubby didn’t have to cook. I thought the soft white rolls, and soft white bread was wonderful. A very fancy change from the freshly baked challahs, bagels, kaiser rolls and rye breads we usually had at home.

When Paul and the boys celebrated Mother’s Day for me, they continued the tradition of cards, and often made me breakfast in bed. We took both Paul’s and my mother out one special Mother’s Day to a restaurant at the end of Huntington Pier. It was a lovely champagne brunch with baskets of popovers;  the menu included Maine lobster. My mother who never drank had imbibed a glass of bubbly. She said: “I’m going to have lobster.” We all had chins on the table. Gasping I remember saying: Mom, you don’t eat lobster.”  She firmly responded, "I will have the lobster." Her cheeks were sweetly pink and her eyes were quite determined. She was just as firm forever after denying that she’d ever ordered it. Paul's mom, Florence didn’t keep kosher, but knew Mama was quite strict about it. She laughed, but she didn’t say a word. Dad remained silent. Hey, it was Mother’s Day!

Now our sons continue to honor their wives, mothers-in-law, and me. Brunch, barbecues, a restaurant dinner. It varies. The best thing about these celebrations from generation to generation, is the love, the memories. Some cynics say this is a holiday invented for commercial purposes. For me it is full of memories, good times together, and lilacs. 

I sure miss Mom, Florence, Bubby, our Aunts, who were like other mothers to us, but I have them with me in my heart and how we carry forward celebrating. 

To all mothers, Happy Mother’s Day