You meet a girl, you fall in like with her, then in love. You get to know her pretty darn well before committing to spend the rest of your life with her. But what you didn't see coming, just a couple of years down the road, is the awakened enormity of a mother's love, the ferocity of commitment to move heaven and earth to provide a nurturing environment for the new life.
This is my story -- it may be different from yours. But on this Mothers' Day I am profoundly grateful for the mother of my three sons, as well as the mother who brought me into this world.
I'm also mindful today of millions of mothers in Afghanistan, who have just been told by the ruling Taliban that they must return to wearing the burka -- the all-encompassing garment that covers every inch of the woman's body except for a slit for the eyes -- a return to the terrors of the 1990's and a breach of their promise upon returning to power a few months ago. Prayers rising for some kind of change of heart in this oppressive regime.
Following the end of World War I, the French government awarded medals to mothers of large families as a way of thanking them for helping to repopulate the nation after so many lives lost in the war.
In the UK, "Mothering Sunday" falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent and many churches celebrate with families who have moved away returning to their home church and mothers receiving a daffodil. Back in the days of household servants, many were allowed to return home to honor their mothers on this day.
Mothers in India are apparently a big enough deal to warrant a 10-day festival in honor of Durga, goddess of mothers. Food is prepared weeks ahead of time and houses are decorated. (But I have to wonder who prepares that food....)
However you celebrate the mothers among us, here's to those women who have quite literally labored not only to bring us into this world, but to demonstrate the kind of love that reaches both heights and depths unlike any other.