April 9, 2021 — It’s lovely to see … every year, more and more Cardies are using Mother’s Day as an opportunity to acknowledge so many moms beyond their own. With May 9th just a month away, today we thought we’d show you the six Mother’s Day cards you’ll see below, and invite you to share Your Favorite Mom Story.
When you think of the moms you most enjoy and admire — your own mother, girlfriends, sisters or colleagues — what silly or sentimental memory do you never tire of telling? Tell us! :) We’d love to feature your story in the Cardie Newsletter come Mother’s Day.
Just to get our My Favorite Mom Story ball rolling, we have a fun one to share with you now. Here’s Cardie Maureen Kund’s tale about her late Mom Luvie and Dad Chief:
My two sisters and I — all in our forties at the time — were enjoying lots of laughs on the beach with our then 70-something mother, Luvie, when she suddenly got all serious and said she had a confession to make. Not knowing what to think, my sisters and I wide-eyed each other and then looked back at Luvie.
She asked if we remembered when our baby brother Sean was born and she remained hospitalized for a week. Having been between the ages of nine and fifteen at the time, we said we sure did. As my sisters and I recalled, “We kids were told everything was fine, and yet you didn’t come home for a whole, long week. We wondered and worried about what was keeping you so long, but every evening Chief would come home from seeing you after work, tell us all about our new brother and assure us you were both doing very well. So on we went until finally there you and Sean were.”
Luvie then somberly said, “I think there’s something else you should know.” The wary look on my sisters’ faces said it all, but Luvie went ahead and spilled the beans: “I had my tubes tied.”
Ha! My sisters and I all had the exact same reaction, laughing, “Makes sense to me!” as we could only imagine what it must have been like for our poor parents to be raising non-stop kids for — yikes — 33 years.
“You know, Chief and I were both 41 when along came our sweet Oops Baby number five,” Luvie continued. “In 1971, it was very different. Women stopped having babies at my age; they didn’t start as they do now! And if a woman wanted her tubes tied, she needed her husband’s permission … your devout-Catholic dad flatly refused.
“Every night after work,” she said, “Chief would come to the hospital and we would have the same argument. But I dug in. ‘Fine,’ I told him, as I lit another cigarette there in the maternity ward. ‘The doctors are letting the baby and me stay here as long as I like. They’re taking good care of me and they’re taking good care of Sean. So, until you sign, you can take care of the four at home. You can keep the house as clean as I do, with the kids and all their little friends running through. You can do the laundry, pack the lunches, help with homework. I’m fine here and am not coming home until these tubes are tied.’”
She said it took him a full seven days to cave, but Chief finally signed. :)
One of these days, we’ll host a big Cardie Con and ask Maureen to tell this story LIVE. In the meantime, Cardies, it’s your turn. Share a touching and true story about a beloved mom in your life (could be anyone you admire for their maternal instincts!), and we’ll publish them all on Mother’s Day, May 9th. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Oh where to begin?
My mom never had much. She didn’t graduate high school and never had the chance to own her dream home (or a piece of land, for that matter). When I was 13, I promised her a diamond ring when I “make enough.” I never got around to deliver on that promise. Diamond rings and education lacking, she was the classiest lady I know. She taught me the importance of well-manicured nails and a “pop of turquoise” and made Kmart and JCPenney duds (her go-tos) look like a million bucks. With her candidness and vulnerability, she made anyone in her presence feel like a million bucks, too.
I think it’s this pureness and realness that made her so loved by so many and allowed her light to shine through. She was transparent. You could look directly into my mom’s soul by simply looking into her eyes. She was terrible at surprises. If I ever had any doubts about anything, I’d look her in the eyes; they’d smile; and I’d know.
Seven years after her passing, I still feel that light here. So many kids grow up defying the traces of their parents in them. I’m a proud and solid reflection of her — music-chasing, food-craving, blue-loving, dog-obsessed crazy person that I’ve grown up to be – and I feel nothing but pride.
In the four years this month that we lost our beloved Dad (shoot, and the tears are flowing already), my relationship with Mom has grown day by day into one I could never have imagined. The time she spends listening to my babble, supporting me as I raise the complex intelligence of my teen college freshman, advising on all things gardening, teaching me the easiest way to crochet scarves, promising to teach me how to loom, cooking with me, and, and, and … are priceless. She relishes her kids, and I relish her for devoting herself to supporting and loving me every day. We don’t need one particular Mother’s Day because isn’t every day for Mom’s? Love you, Mom.
Sweet mom memories run deep! Yesterday, 97-year-old Cardie Oma Hannlis asked me to type up this birthday message to send her youngest son. He turns 55 on Tuesday. “Matthew, you were the prettiest of my three babies. I remember after bringing you home, our favorite thing was to lie in bed looking out at a beautiful cherry tree with its branches spread so wide. We would cuddle there for hours, gazing out that window, enjoying that beautiful tree. Every year on this day, I can feel myself back there with you in my arms. I cherish the memory as I do you, my darling. Happy, happy birthday!” 🥰