It's Day 3 of Teacher Appreciation Week 2020 and today I'm thinking about all of the educators out there who are finding creative ways to awaken joy even as they create not with a classroom community but remotely from a distance.
The opening of these Day Lilies this morning serve as such a poignant parallel to the beauty that usually unfolds right before our eyes between March and May with our class families. Thank you, educators, for staying the course and finishing strong; know that there is still a great awakening going on, because of you.
I especially used to love it when my students would call me Mom, which takes me into today's post about my very first teacher and one of the friendliest, most generous and joyful people I know, my Mother.
Going through her things as she was downsizing last Fall,
I reminisced about some of the things that Mom taught me,
like cooking and baking from her revered recipe book.
I reminisced about some of the things that Mom taught me,
like cooking and baking from her revered recipe book.
Inside of it, all sorts of deliciousness, including this newspaper article from one of the many recipe contests that she entered over the years. Blitz Torte. Just look at her pride at sharing her creation. Mom's recipes weren't just about combining ingredients, but also about creating kindness from her kitchen.
She always made sure to set a place at the table for anyone who came by to visit, see our farm, work with our family, you name it, they were treated to an incredibly-tasty meal. And when there was a birth, a death, a surgery, a celebration, Mom was there, serving up a heaping helping of connection and love.
I came home with her Aebleskiver Pans; since I already have one, they went to Kaitlyn and Jacob, who are each getting married this year and will now be able to carry on serving this traditional Danish dish.
This treasure that we found is actually the last pair of slippers that Mom's mom, Grandma Larsen, was working on when she passed away. I love how when she ran out of one yarn, she just found another yarn and kept right on knitting. We imagine that Mom took them to finish them off, but they got lost in the back of a closet only to be found still on the needles some twenty years later.
So my sister snagged them for me to finish, and together we gifted them back to Mom in March for an early Mother's Day gift.
Beyond all of the skills she taught me to sharpen, Mom modeled how to be compassionate, hopeful, generous, passionate and fair.
My Mom made Mother a verb, so you can imagine
why I connect so strongly with this Coffee Table book.
It's a collection filled with quotes and inspiration,
like this one, from Erich Fromm:
Her love is peace. Don't you love that?
From giving the best cuddles, to making mistakes,
from seeing us at our best (and bragging about it)
to kicking us out of the nest (with the door wide open),
this gallery of goodness punctuates the timeless truth that
Mothers are expert joy bringers and hope dealers.
It took my heart home with these wise words:
Mothers keep on cooking.
Thank you, Moms, for teaching us to do and to be,
for giving us the world and asking for little in return,
for loving unconditionally and without measure.
Add this treasure to your shelves
or share it with your mom as a thank-you.
From giving the best cuddles, to making mistakes,
from seeing us at our best (and bragging about it)
to kicking us out of the nest (with the door wide open),
this gallery of goodness punctuates the timeless truth that
Mothers are expert joy bringers and hope dealers.
It took my heart home with these wise words:
Mothers keep on cooking.
Thank you, Moms, for teaching us to do and to be,
for giving us the world and asking for little in return,
for loving unconditionally and without measure.
Add this treasure to your shelves
or share it with your mom as a thank-you.
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