Unless you currently reside under a rock you are aware that today is Mother's Day. For the last month or so the television, radio, and newspapers have been riddled with stories and reflections about this saint-like woman, "Mother". Endless recollections of the selfless acts of the woman who made our breakfast, kissed our faces, read us stories, and bathed us in her undying love.
What a nice fantasy. It seems it is the minority of mothers, rather than the majority, who have either the time or the inclination to be this "June Cleaver" type. Too many children I know, my stepchildren included, have had to endure the hell that comes with a mother that just doesn't care, or at the very least, doesn't care enough. My own mother has abandoned five children in her lifetime. Not even all at the same time, no, apparently this is a pattern with her. I'm not suppose to be too angry with her because it was the disease called addiction that made her do it. Even at thirty this excuse doesn't hold much water with me, it certainly wouldn't have helped when I was a small child. Now I see my childhood, or at least aspects of it, mirrored in my stepchildren. Their mother also fights the demon that is addiction, she also abandoned five children in the endless search for that next great "high". (Might I just add I only refer to my stepchildren as "stepchildren" so as to not cause confusion to the reader. I do not think of my daughters as anything but that, my daughters)
Just recently my eldest celebrated her 10th birthday. Like most families these days my husband and I couldn't do much for her birthday but we certainly did everything we could. It was a wonderful day filled with food, fun, and family. At one point I was given the biggest hug I've ever gotten from this particular child and the day was rated "the best birthday" she's ever had. A statement not to be taken lightly from this, the most dificult of my two daughters to win over. She is a mommies girl through and through. No matter how many times her mother lets her down, no matter how many laws or promises she's broken. No matter how many birthdays pass, as this one did, with no phone call or letter. It doesn't even matter that the courts have said she is no longer legally her mother, my daughter will ALWAYS love her mother. In her mind her mother will always be her mother, I just hope that in time I become "Mom".
