For the Love of Moms ❤️

At the close of our yoga class last Friday, our wonderful earth mother instructor, Paola, and I spoke for a few minutes about missing our late mothers most immensely this time of year. And later I recalled a lovely story Paola once told us from when she was in her mid-20s, nearly two decades ago now.

“I was at a conference in Buenos Aires, where I grew up,” she began, “when this man approached me and began saying how familiar I looked and beautiful he thought I was. Well, of course, I thought he was just trying to flatter me, but he said, ‘No, it’s that you look so much like a beloved high school teacher of mine.'” Paola said to the man guardedly, “My mother was a teacher.” Upon hearing that, she said the man really went in to how much this particular teacher had touched his young life.

“She was one of those ‘as beautiful on the inside as out’ people,” he described, “and made all her students feel that we were valued and had great potential. She taught English, and went so far as to invite small groups of us to her house so we could practice having conversations. What an amazing woman she was.” At that point, a little stunned, Paola told the man, “My mother taught high school English before she died when I was 16, and often brought her students to our home.”Yes, the man’s beloved teacher was our beloved teacher’s mother, Marta. Fast forward to two weeks ago, Paola walked into class beaming, having just learned she was aunt to a little girl who will be called Martita, until she grows into her abuela’s shoes.

When I called Paola yesterday to ask if I might share her story with our Cardies on Mother’s Day, she said, “Of course!” And then, with a shy little giggle, asked, “And may I just quick share something else with you? This morning,” she said, “as I was about to leave the house for a very early class, my 14-year-old poked his sleepy head out of his room and said, ‘I miss you, Mami.’ It had been a crazy, busy week for us, and he had returned home very late from dinner with his girlfriend and her parents after I’d gone to bed last night, so I had missed spending time with him, too, but I could not keep the class waiting. ‘Let me walk you to your car, Mom,’ he told me, and it made my heart smile to hear him say so lovingly, ‘Just so I can be with you.'”

No, we wouldn’t be us without them. Have a lovely day.