She healed skinned knees with a kiss. She vanquished the closet wolves with her magic flash light. She got dinner on the table. Like every mother, my Mom is a miracle worker. I find it difficult to summon a single childhood memory of my Mom that isn’t touched at least a little by utter chaos. But I find it even harder to think of one that doesn’t echo the love and support she still represents in my life today.
Mom helped me learn my first food safety lesson relatively early, while untangling my hair from our hand mixer after the pathetic attempt I made, far too soon, to make her delicious recipe for zucchini bread. This is a popular story at family gatherings. She prepared me for eating healthy on a budget, switching us kids from grapes to apples after learning that we were competing regularly to see who could fit the most grapes in our mouths. She instilled in me a deep appreciation for the arts after I removed a whirring mixer from its bowl, still covered in peanut butter, ruining both of my sisters’ nearby pairs of tap shoes. Now that I think of it, she also taught me the value of forgiveness considering how many chances she gave me with that mixer. More than anything, Mom showed me all the different ways I could care for others—from opening up our kitchen to the other kids in the neighborhood to writing holiday cards to seniors.
As we come together for Mother’s Day celebrations, it’s important to honor the person who first taught us what it meant to serve others, and why that lesson is still so impactful today. Celebrate the mom in your life and please lend a helping hand to Moms in our community today by with your thoughtful donation to the Capital Area Food Bank.