Everything's Quiet on Mother's Day

Well, I ain't had no mother to celebrate with since MD 2012, so the holiday is always one of mixed emotions for me, but, as the circle of life spins, this year IS very special. Wifey and I get to wish a happy MD to D1 for the first time. She is already a kick ass mother -- fiercely in love with her close to 5 month old beautiful baby boy.

We celebrated yesterday, as today they will hopefully get to visit her wonderful suegros.  Wifey and I stopped at Bagel Emporium for some Jewish comfort food, and cruised up to Casa D1 and Joey. We played with the little man -- Wifey has complete patience. She truly adores babies and dogs.

At nap time, this grandpa found an outdoor couch, and reclined listening to the kids playing in the pool next door, and the birds. D1's house is built among some of the oldest live oaks in Miami, and there is an amazing bird game going on -- the singing was like a movie set.

I drifted off into what became a top 5 nap of all time -- about 5 hours. I awoke not knowing where I was. The plague was surely no longer in my unconsciousness. It was heavenly.

I hadn't walked, and sure enough, when I arrived home, realized I have become addicted. I got Mirta on the phone -- she was biking -- and we chatted. I made 5 miles -- half of my usual daily routine -- but still helpful with the anxiety.

Wifey is sleeping in. I'll make her coffee soon, and bring it to her in bed.  D1 already sent her sunflowers, her favorite, on behalf of both Ds. I have a feeling there'll be a heartfelt couple of emails -- from D1 now that she is a mother of a human, and D2, a devoted dog mom of a very large puppy.

Wifey truly was and is an a (pause) mazing mom.  She has showered the Ds, and now grandson, with unconditional love. She read to them nightly -- more than I did -- to get their brains going the right way.  She was tough with them when she had to be.

I recall a tough time in D1's adolescence. A group of "mean girls" and boys decided they didn't wish to hang with her. D1 turned to Wifey to become her buddy. They'd get home from school, and D1 would say "So what are we doing today?"  As much as Wifey loved her daughter's companionship, she wasn't having it.  "Who's "WE?"  You need to make your own friends."

And the tough love worked -- D1 indeed found a crowd where she became very happy and popular -- and took her amazing social skills to college, grad school, and beyond.

The family joke is that I am absurdly friendly, and know EVERYONE. Well -- I am minor league compared to D1 -- she truly has connections all over the city.

And for that, I give credit to Wifey. She knew that a mother's role is to parent -- not be a buddy all the time. And D1 is quite the woman because of it.

D2, with a more fraught relationship with Wifey during HER adolescence, also now recognizes how lucky she is. She came home from college, where she had close friends, and announced that Wifey screwed her up FAR LESS than many of the other moms. That is a very high compliment.

We all mess up our kids, as the poet Philip Larkin said so well.  If we can keep the damage to a minimum -- well -- that's the best we can hope for.

So I salute Wifey this MD, as well as new badass Mom D1. May there be many more.

And as for Sunny -- who left this mortal coil in April of '13, I think of you today, of course. I thank you for the love you gave me, and the self confidence. She always thought I'd grow up to be a US Senator.  I'm happy being a semi retired lawyer, enjoying the next generations from my dear mother.

Sunny loved her children fiercely.  Her daughter in law and granddaughter do the same. And I am one lucky Daddy and Grand Daddy in the USA.