Is it surprising at all that the first three letters of moments – my monthly theme for May – spell Mom? Motherhood ~ it presses tresses of hair to lock time, scrapbooks the stories, photographs the milestones, encapsulates moments that become memories. Mothers teach us that our most valuable resource is neither money nor toys. It’s time. Mothers show us how we should spend it with each other, how we share space and emotions and experiences as we carve a life by whittling joys into ropes we can hang onto when life gets tough. And I must share my humble opinion that not all mothers are the women who brought us into this world; for many, the mother figure may be a man – or more than one person.
My own mother savored moments. Her dreams of traveling with my father were short-lived, and she realized this when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Although she had spent time as a flight attendant and had seen some of the world on her own, it wasn’t the same without Dad there to make memories with her. That day of riding off into the sunset with the luggage in the trunk, going off to enjoy the world cannot wait until retirement, cannot wait on projects to be complete or all our ducks to be in a row (they rarely, if ever, are). I learned many things from my mother, most of them just from watching her. But in those final days leading to her last breath on December 29, 2015, when her energy waned and took her mind along with it the vast majority of the time, she taught me that waiting to do the dreamy things in the living of life? …..isn’t always the best plan.
We have no guarantees of tomorrow, no guarantees that the retirement days will ever come or that if they do, we will be physically or financially able to go and see the world and do the things we love at a fraction of the energy and income that we have today. To live, we have to seize each moment and make the time to tie some knots in the rope, to carve some joy and memories to hold onto in our final days.
The day for living is today, in each moment.
Moments
Opportunities for
Memory-making
Everyday~
Not saving the dreams in a jar for
Tomorrow – but
Savoring the now ~ while it’s here
Proverbs 31:25-30
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” …
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Common Threads 
Such a moving meditation on your mother. Thank you for sharing that important lesson, whose reminder is an important one for me. Blessings to your mother’s memory, and Happy Mother’s Day to you.
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First, dear Kim, to the moment frozen in that photo: Must be Easter, for I see your basket and little white gloves (I had those, too, for this occasion only), and my mother had that same hair! Oh, I remember… and how fitting is this photo, both of you wearing garments of white, symbolically linked to faith and the Resurrection. MOMents… a great lesson from your mother, to savor moments, to know the goldenness of them. Spending time with the ones we love are life’s greatest gifts. Favorite line from your poem: “Not saving the dreams in a jar” – for life is happening now, right now, and yes, the moments need to be seized and savored. Your memories are so rich, so full of love – you for her and hers for you. That shot at your son’s wedding is, I think, a foretaste of celebrations to come, per that verse in Corinthians. We shall hold to this ❤
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