Skip to main content

A Toast for Mothers

Our mothers are as varied and complex as espresso
According to an interesting article in The Economist, scientists reckon there are over 1,200 various chemical substances that reside inside a single-roasted coffee bean. Espresso, of all coffee preparations, releases more of these chemicals than any other preparation. So, too, does motherhood involve more of the human senses than any other act or bond.

For a variety of reasons, we are most attached to our mothers, more so than our fathers, siblings, or relatives. Mothers always seem near, even when they are not physically nearby. Mothers always seem to "know", even when they don't understand what might really be going on. Mothers always seem to care, even when it is hard to do so on our behalf. In some way, these and other factors contribute to the attachment that makes mothers top of the family heap.

Thanks to Anna Jarvis, Mother's Day is now a thoroughly recognized holiday in the US and beyond, although the roots of celebrating and commemorating motherhood run much deeper than the annual second Sunday of May that officiates the event. Motherhood has been recognized as vital to national interests and statehood going back to the Greeks, and Augustus enacted fairly thorough ordinances centered around motherhood to encourage marriage and procreation to maintain the power of the Roman Empire. 

That's all to say that motherhood is important and heady stuff, and we should be grateful for our mothers, what they do, and how important they are to our lives. Which brings me back from an afternoon pause with a tasty espresso and a daydream about Ancient Rome, to raise a toast for Mothers. Here's to celebrating my wife (mothering a furry friend counts!), my own mother, and all those family and friends who are mothers on this special day.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everyday Love Poem to my Wife

Over a year of marriage carries Happiness, love, and sometimes cranberries But eventually the pace slows down, Work intrudes, some days a frown And suddenly the world has changed. What we must do is simply rearrange The days so that other things fit neatly In their own places, and move on sweetly To the beauties of the everyday together. Because there is love everywhere, wherever You shall be - and perhaps also Rosie - This is a good thing naturally, So good to state it thus and remember That only frigid mornings in November Can keep us apart, but only so long As the work day lasts because so strong Is our pact that I worry not a wink - Your loveliness is worth so much, I think.
2 comments
Read more

Muggles...

...is what I tweeted last night after having the privilege of attending a private screening of the movie hours before the midnight premiere. As much as the digital revolution has fragmented the shared experiences that we have, it has also greatly expanded the impact of those events that touch various peoples. Witness Harry Potter. In the pre-digital world, this would have been an uniquely British story about wizards and boarding schools, but it has captivated global audiences and transcended the borders of its now-uber-wealthy writer. We were part of the crowd that spanned the globe to see this movie, which I can say, lives up to the hype. On a Thursday evening, we could watch the lines of children queuing up to get a chance to say goodbye to a childhood growing up with Harry Potter and watching the actor grow from a plump-faced little boy into a serious actor and apparent alcoholic. It did not matter for 2.5 hours in the theater, of a movie that was pretty gripping from beginnin...
1 comment
Read more

In Memory of Rose

Pets have an uncanny ability of ingraining themselves into the fabric of a household, so much so that their disappearance can cause great grief and disorientation to their owners. Such is the case with Rose, who passed from our household on Sunday. An older dog when we took her in to our home last year, Rose was supposedly the runt of her litter, a fact confirmed by her diminutive 5-pound Pomeranian frame - too small for her breed but too big to be classified a "teacup." This suited her just fine, however, as she came to embody a singular personality as a dog among people, often little acknowledging some dogs and appearing frightened by others just as a hesitant human being might act around jumpy canines. Rose embodied all of what defines unconditional love. She was raucous when we would leave the house and even more raucous when we returned, partly due to separation anxiety but mostly due to her sadness and excitement of being around us; she let us know her affection b...
3 comments
Read more