Other Mothers

Oh sure, I had a real mother. Wouldn’t be here otherwise, now would I?

But, I also had Other Mothers. No, I didn’t leave home, I didn’t move in with another family, I didn’t abandon the real one.

I didn’t seek out my Other Mothers.   They just appeared and I lapped them up. They’re as broad and varied as a quilt. They put the pieces together.

It’s the old Buddhist saying: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

Those people….men and women….were exactly where they needed to be at exactly the time they were supposed to be. I’m guessing that we all have those people in our lives.

There was the one who taught me how to set a table; the one who suggested I was funny, the one who showed me generosity’s reward, the one who told me I was NOT sweet, the ones who lived next door, the one who told me he loved me.

Those, and many more, were my Other Mothers. I am so grateful. So lucky.

Many are gone, but to paraphrase the song, “their memories linger on.”

But I’m not cooked yet so I’m pretty sure there are Other Mothers in my future.

I don’t know when, where, who or how. But I’ll know them when I see them. That much I know for sure.