Mother’s Day Is Trickier Than You Think
Only wish someone a happy Mother’s Day if you’re certain it’s not a painful day for her.
Every year, at least a couple of people wish me a happy Mother’s Day. They’re always strangers because no one who knows me would ever do that. I know I have the gray hair and wide girth of someone who’s not only a mother but a grandmother, but I’m neither. People who know me also don’t talk to me about Mother’s Day because they know my relationship with my now-dead mother was very difficult. So Mother’s Day is really a non-holiday for me.
I was on Facebook earlier (because that’s how old I am) and I noticed an entire conversation between women don’t want to be reminded of Mother’s Day. Some women posted that they had wanted children, but had been unable to have them, so the day makes them sad. Some women posted that their mother was dead, so Mother’s Day only brought them grief.
Some posted that having a bad relationship with their mother made the day difficult. Another said she had a daughter from whom she was estranged. They hadn’t spoken in years.
One person posted about a coworker with an adult son. Someone wished her a “Happy Mother’s Day” only to find out the son had recently died.
