Hipster Mom

The smoke alarm sounds off in the house while I'm cooking on a constant basis. I blame it on an over sensitive alarm. But it is apparent that I  did not inherit my mother's grand cooking skills. But I have gained a lot of other  insight and knowledge from my mom -- grace, faith, strength, humility and consciousness.  She is one of the most beautiful and sweet women I know (although I had different feelings as a teenager). As we grow older and wiser and have children of our own we realize what our mothers had to endure and sacrifice to raise their children. My mother, who grew up in rural Mississippi with nine brothers and sisters, has most certainly struggled during her 70 years. We all do to some extent. I know the beach has always been a place of solitude for my mom, as it is for me. Late writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh (wife of  the late aviator Charles Lindbergh) sums up this solace in her beautiful book  Gift From The Sea.
Here is one of my favorite passages from the book :

The sea does not reward those who are  too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, Patience, patience is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach -- waiting for a gift from the sea.

Twenty years after Gift From the Sea was published, Lindbergh wrote, "When  I wrote Gift From the Sea, I was still in the stage of life I called the 'oyster bed,' a symbol of a spreading family and growing children. The oyster bed, as the tide of life ebbed and the children went away to school, college, marriage, or careers, I was left high and dry. A most uncomfortable stage followed, not sufficiently anticipated and barely hinted at in my book. In bleak honesty it can only be called 'the abandoned shell.' Plenty of solitude, and  sudden panic at how to fill it, characterized this period. ...To quote my own words, 'woman must come of age by herself - she must find her true center alone.' The lesson seems to need re-learning about every 20 yeas in a woman's life.  ...As I look at my daughters, daughters-in-law, my nieces and my young friends, I am astounded at what they accomplish. They are better mothers than I was and they are the admitted equals of  their husbands in intelligence and initiative. They have no domestic help in their homes and yet with vigilant planning, some skillful acrobatics, and far more help from their husbands than any previous generation, they manage to lead enriching lives, including special interests of their own. ... Are they happy -- or shall I say, happier than my generation? This is a question I cannot answer. In a  sense I think it is irrelevant. Without hesitation I can affirm that they are more honest, more courageous in facing themselves and their lives more confident of what they want to do, and more efficient in carrying through their aim. But, above all, they are more aware."

This post is dedicated to my mom and all the other amazing mothers out there who have helped pave a positive path and have enriched the lives of many.
Below is a photo of me and my mom circa 1970s and a photo of my son and I (special thanks to my friend Kathy Klossner for taking the photo of me and my son). I am thankful that my parents are in close driving distance and that I can share my son with them. Thank you mom for all your love, support and strength over the years. Happy Mother's Day.