What do you do to honor your mother on Mother's Day? First, you give her a great gift - maybe flowers, her favorite chocolate, something she wouldn't buy for herself. YOU know she deserves it, and you'd give her the world because she gave you life and kept you alive as you grew older. She kept you fed, bathed and clothed and kissed your booboos. A card just doesn't seem to cut it, and flowers -- well, that's become a routine, hasn't it?
My mother, JoAnne, passed away in Winter of 1996, and I miss her, we all do. So I write this blog to honor her memory. My mother never liked to hear "what do you want for Mother's Day, Mom?". So it was always a challenge to be creative. So now that she's gone and I'm a mom, I understand where she was coming from. Though I wish I could honor her and bless her on Mother's Day in person, I can't; I can only dream, regret, and pass on this information to you, reader, and honor her in memoriam.
If Mom were still alive, she wouldn't want to do anything but take the day off. While any mother knows that's not entirely possible, I would do what I could to make that happen. I would give her my time, (and the royal treatment.) Mom didn't eat breakfast, so no breakfast in bed. Nothing gave Mom more joy than seeing us next to her in church, worshiping. So then after escorting her to church, we would take her out to lunch wherever she wants (usually somewhere "not too expensive, I don't want you to make a big fuss") and then back home or maybe for a drive in the country (she loved that).
Since she loved the smell of flowers, especially lilacs and lavender, she would have loved a Scentsy warmer (flameless candle because she didn't like the soot from regular candles) with French lavender wax. As she sits comfortably in her favorite chair, sipping the mint iced tea she so loved and enjoying the aroma of french lavender, I would rub her feet for at least an hour. After she falls asleep -- as she often did -- I would ("wash your hands" lol) and make dinner. One of her favorites (because it is cheap, extremely easy, and doesn't make a big mess), is Layered Casserole (recipe follows).
After dinner we would have (to make) her go into the sunroom and relax and put her feet up. We (whoever else is around) clean the kitchen extra good for her and get my fondue warmer going. While she relaxes, we make a pot of coffee and a tray of pretzels, fresh strawberries, and mini marshmallows to dip in the Velata chocolate. Then we would all sit around and enjoy each other's company and the delicious fondue. Maybe I would give her the Velata pot too, and get myself another one
