Happy Mother's Day

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine – she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. – Adabella Radici

So tomorrow is Mother’s Day.  It will be the 3^rd year I’ll celebrate the day without my mom being here to wish her “Happy Mother’s Day.”  I always thought, the longer someone is gone, the less you will miss them?  The reality is that’s not the case.  There’s always a little heart tug when I think of her.

Last night as I was looking outside, I saw the first blooms of our flowering crab tree.  We had one in our yard when I was growing up.  Every year at Mother’s Day it would bloom, just like our tree is doing now.  Ah…there’s that heart tug feeling again. 

My mom loved that tree.  We’d take pictures of it every year.  It grew and grew and was always beautiful.  Even though we’ve all moved from that homestead, I’m sure the tree is still standing and blooming.  Flowering crab trees are hearty trees.   

Later in life when mom remarried, she married her husband in May under the flowering crab trees in their yard.  When my husband and I moved into our house, we planted three flowering crab trees.  I still enjoy watching them grow and change each year.

If you could be a tree, any tree, what kind of tree would you be?  Have you ever asked that question or been asked that question in an interview?  Some places even ask that question during a team building exercise.  I always answer I’d be a flowering crab tree. 

Why?  Perhaps it is because of my mom and her love of them.  They always bring thoughts of happy memories for me.  There’s something more though.   

I love how the tree supports nature.  It has more than one purpose and meets the needs of more than itself.  They are hearty trees and love just the right amount of water and full sunshine.  I know I do well with plenty of water and lots of sunshine.  

They enhance the aesthetics of the yard throughout the year.  I think that’s pretty cool.  The blooms are incredibly fragrant.  They bloom early in the season and help the birds and the bees.  Their leaves change throughout the seasons with many different colors.  Then in the fall, they produce the apples that feed the birds and deer.  Even in the dormant months, the winter birds still use the tree as a perching spot and the deer eat the branches.  

I’d say they are nurturing trees, just like mothers.  Maybe that’s why mom loved them so much?  I never asked her why. I just intuitively knew why by spending time watching her enjoy the trees as they changed throughout the year.  

Moms are beautiful, just like flowering crab trees.  They nurture their children, nurture each other, nurture their surroundings, and selflessly change with the seasons.  Ah…a little heart tug again!  I’m so blessed to be a mom and to have had a mom who taught me to love nature and nurturing.  I'm looking forward to grabbing a few extra hugs from my kids this Mother's Day!  

Happy Mother’s Day Moms!!  Thanks for stopping by ~

PS – It’s been a while since I picked up my camera.  I grabbed a different lens so I could get up and close to the beautiful buds.  Well…actually I was already up and close to smell them and noticed the beauty of the individual buds.  Enjoy your Mother’s Day!