The Most Precious of Gifts...

With Mother's Day tomorrow instead of focusing on what to give my mother, I'm pondering the gifts my mother has given to me: the little quirks & traits beyond her love. These are dearest to me, the gentle reminders that daily whisper in my soul...I'm Elizabeth's daughter and for this I'm beyond grateful.

Style is always the first gift I recognize & acknowledge. While she may say different , I know better. I remember playing in my moms heels with her alligator handbag gently caressing the lines, somehow feeling they were special. Only in the early 80s, I discovered the handbag in ELLE on their top 10 classics list, did I have an epiphany to mom's style. The handbag in question?? Hermes' Kelly bag in chocolate brown alligator which I continued to covet until my 40th birthday when she gave it to me. Her closet still has ribbon jackets made in Hong Kong, Mark Cross bags & Lilly Pulitzer beside sweaty workout clothes. Fabulous!!!

I've been dancing to anything for as long as I can remember. Ballet lessons, night clubs, even late night in my teenage bedroom, I can attribute it all to my mom. She loves to move & proved it by receiving her Masters in Dance from Columbia. We still groove around the kitchen together.

My thumb morphed green later in life but hers was always a gorgeous shade of flora. The two acre vegetable garden, her flowers galore, all of it courses through when my hands run deep into dirt bringing the bounty of the earth in tandem with her creativity running through me. I remember the first summer tomato I plucked from the vine & yes, she was right that it did taste sweeter from my own sweat .

Every cup of tea, I take revives memories: the Beatrix Potter tea set she gave me, the countless moments she insisted the server heat her cup (hot tea, cold cup blasphemy!!!), the milky warmth that revives her daily to this day & the high teas we've shared over 3 continents. It all soothes me as much as my Earl Grey with lemon & one lump.

Above all I am most grateful for my sense of adventure. I am proud to know that that whenever I think," Sure. I'll give it a go." mom's racing through my veins the same way she tooled around in her Austin Healey, black MG or '63 Jag XKE in Cafe au Lait. I'm still envious & a bit stunned that the woman who punished me for teenage adventures owned 3 classic convertibles but knowing that she traded it in when she discovered herself pregnant makes me repect her even more.

Everyday I remind my mother how much I love her. We disagree, even argue but it never lasts long. I've reached a time in my life where in the end that doesn't matter. Our journey has been rocky at times but still we always return to each other & that's what I'm most grateful for. My mother's gift of understanding has made me realize who she was & became. This is what I cherish of & from her most of all.

A Happy Mother's Day to all...

Image courtesy of Hermes.