With all the gorgeous cards filled with heart-felt sentiment and the booming floral deliveries, Mother’s Day can be a great way to share your love for someone who has stood by you through even your toughest seasons.  Cards full of flowery sentiments fill stores, addressed to loving mothers, mothers-in-law, and those who have been like mothers.  But those categories don’t cover the complex circumstances in some of our actual situations and relationships with our moms.  For some, Mother’s Day can be a strange or difficult day to acknowledge.

Some of us had those greeting-card-worthy moms, the kind that were our biggest cheerleaders; ones we trusted for their guidance and advice.  But due to illness or accident, she’s no longer with us, casting a long shadow over Mother’s Day.  Certainly, we remember the good times.  And we wish with all our hearts she was still around to see what we’ve been up to, or how our little ones make that face or do that thing that reminds us of her.  If we happen to find a card for that, we’re not really sure where to send it. 

Others of us have always longed to be moms, but the opportunity never happened for us, due to life circumstances or medical issues.  So, we celebrate the mothers we love and delight in the children around us, whether they’re related to us or not.  But there isn’t really a card for us either.

Some of us are single moms with littles too young to buy or even make us a card.  For us, Mother’s Day may be just another day to power through, grateful for the simple things that help support our little family as our sweet babies grow. There are plenty of cards about the love and sacrifices we make, but we won’t likely receive them until our kids are much older.

Still others of us have strained or negligible relationships with the woman who gave birth to us.  For reasons known or unknown to us, they aren’t involved in our lives or the lives of our children.  If we want to send them a card, there really isn’t one that simply says “Happy Mother’s Day” without adding sentiments that simply don’t apply.

There’s an ancient Chinese quote that says, “Women hold up half the sky.”  Mother’s Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate all those women who have helped shape us.  It’s also an opportunity to celebrate and encourage those who are side by side with us, muddling through the messy middle. Whether they helped build us up when we were small or are now helping hold us up while we raise our own kids in community, women are superheroes and deserve to be honored, even if there isn’t a perfect card for it.  Happy Mother’s Day, sweet mommas, no matter where you are on this journey.