Happy Mother’s and Mothering Day!
Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March or May. ( source: Wikipedia.com)
I am the proud mother of two and Mother’s Day is always a little bittersweet for me. On one side I love celebrating something I consider to be the most important thing I will ever do in my life…being a Mom. On the flip side, it is also a day of sadness because I am one of the many who are estranged from their mother. I don’t recommend this status but I recognize and accept that sometimes it simply is the way it needs to be. If you are reading this and are one of this often silent group on this Mother’s Day, I just wanted to let you know…you are not alone. {{Hugs}}
Inside the Fashion Doll Studio 
I never thought about it, but you are so right. This must be a painful day for many people who are not, for whatever reason, close to their mothers. But you have risen above that and are one of the very best mothers I know. Rock on, Honey Badger!
May 12, 2013 at 9:32 am
You are the best my sister by another mother…you are the best.
May 12, 2013 at 9:39 am
Thank you for your post! I am estranged from my mother too and people don’t understand. My brother and I joke that we have to search for the least emotional, most neutral Mother’s Day cards in the store.
May 12, 2013 at 9:41 am
{Hugs} to you and your brother Matthew! I can totally relate LOL…I have found blank cards work well with a very unemotional and neutral worded message…or…no card at all. Sad but necessary.
May 12, 2013 at 10:13 am
Happy Mother`s Day Rebecca. I am touched by your truth and from beginning to end, I think we all long for our mothers love. In its purest sense, there is nothing quite so profound.
hugs
B
May 12, 2013 at 10:51 am
Thank you Brenda. Yes, we are hard wired to want certain things and a parents love is one of them. I think you also find in life that…in the words of the famous Rolling Stones…”you can’t always get what you wanted…but you get what you need”. 🙂 I am so blessed to have so many supportive and giving collector friends and readers. Thank you so much for the hugs. Right back to you!
May 13, 2013 at 11:20 am
Love these pictures. Especially the last one. I see a very proud mother with two beautyful children and a lot of love !
May 12, 2013 at 11:34 am
Thank you so much Rogier. Yes, I am so very glad that sentiment comes through in the photos. These guys are my favorite subjects to photograph…even though they HATE it. 🙂
May 13, 2013 at 11:21 am
You have your own beautiful family,thats all you need
May 12, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Exactly! Thank you for voicing that. 🙂
May 13, 2013 at 11:22 am
Happy Mother’s Day, Rebecca. Beautiful photos of you and your kids. I can relate as well, but instead of my mom, it’s with my dad. And yes, I do find unemotional and neutral worded cards work well. It is what it is. Have a wonderful day!!!
Demetria
May 12, 2013 at 2:44 pm
You said it best Demetria…it is what it is. 🙂 Hope you are having a wonderful day too.
May 13, 2013 at 6:52 pm
Happy Mother’s Day! Your children look adorable and you are one beautiful Mom. I’m so glad that my daughter’s and I have such a wonderful & loving relationship that I never had with my mom. As it’s been said, “it is what it is”. Hugs to you!
May 12, 2013 at 2:51 pm
Awwww! Thank you Deb and Happy Mother’s Day to you. Yes, we are in a wonderful position to be able to give our children something we may have missed in our own childhood. It’s an amazingly healing thing. Hugs right back to you.
May 13, 2013 at 11:24 am
Oh Rebecca, you don’t read my Facebook posts. I often comment about this topic. I JUST posted a relevant thought, seen below. One reason I am so active online is to create community, an online family. Because my family life was fraught with unwarranted beatings and life-long verbal abuse.
I don’t dwell on it, but ppl don’t realize this exists amongst those we would never suspect. Often amongst the most loving, giving, intelligent, talented ppl who deserve love, not this abuse or estrangement. BUT one thing I learned (after 50 so yrs): NOT OUR FAULT.
Accept it and send prayers of love. Esp to ourselves, to help heal our pain. Her loss. We know what a fab, loving, super woman, mother, daughter, wife, friend that YOU are Ms Rebecca B!
My just posted on FB:
“HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!! I love reading such loving tributes. Blessed are those loved by their Mothers. Not all of us grew up in loving homes. Never take love for granted. Realize the power of love. Loving someone empowers them. Much love from me to all of you and your families. THANK YOU!”
REBECCA: YOU ARE LOVED. Never forget it. Anyone who doesn’t ‘get’ and love you, that’s their problem. Send them love and acceptance and move on! Big hugs to ALL the women today!!!
WE are Mothers of Our Art and Lives! YAY for us.
May 12, 2013 at 3:18 pm
Thank you for your always heart felt and supportive comments Jenny! I have to say I am completely amazed and brought to tears touched by the comments I received to this blog post. I had originally just added the comment about estrangement as a note to others to let them know that there were others who understood. I never expected to get this wonderful outpouring of support. Just goes to show you that many people are AMAZING! I have long accepted my family of origin situation. It was a hard won battle of acceptance but I came out of it with my self worth in tact and valued. It sounds like you did too. Well done sister! Thank you for being you. 🙂
May 13, 2013 at 11:31 am
PS THANK YOU for sharing your family photos. Swell stuff! You are blessed, deservedly so. Big hugs to everyone in your family and this fine community you created here. Big smiles to all!
May 12, 2013 at 3:20 pm
And thank you for supporting and commenting. I am indeed blessed and try to value that each and every day by giving back. Big hugs right back to you. 🙂
May 13, 2013 at 11:32 am
I’m there with you, but I rejoice in my own two children and always pledge to give them what I don’t have. Judging by the smiles on your kids’ faces, you make them feel all the joy and love that you might have missed out on. Bless you!! And thank you for your beautiful gift to us…your photography and blogging skills. I am amazed by you on a consistent basis. 🙂 Love, Dawn – OSS
May 12, 2013 at 4:09 pm
Thank you so very much Dawn! I am always floored when someone whose talent I completely admire comes back with a whopper of a compliment like you just gave me. Wow! I appreciate your lovely and supportive comment more than I can say. Thank you for being the embodiment of one of my favorite Gandhi quotes..”Be the change you wish to see in the world” 🙂
May 13, 2013 at 11:40 am
You have a very beautiful family! Thanks so much for sharing … I agree, Mother’s day can be bittersweet. While I’m not estranged from my Mother, I wasn’t blessed with children. Some would say that you don’t miss what you don’t have but I wonder …
Happy Mothers day to you! Big Hugs!
May 12, 2013 at 4:37 pm
Thank you for your lovely comment Judy and for your support. I titled this blog post Happy Mother’s and Mothering Day for a reason. While I don’t have a close relationship with my biological mother, I have some amazing relationships with strong woman who have “mothered” me. You don’t have to have a child to be a Mother to one or to provide that kind of support to others. You do that all the time through your friendships. You are a strong and supportive friend and that means so very much. 🙂
May 13, 2013 at 11:45 am
Happy mother’s day, Rebecca! (we celebrate it on march 25th). You have beautiful children! I thought you have only a daughter – I don’t remember I’ve seen a picture of your son before. But girls are usually more keen on posing than boys – especially when they come to certain age 🙂 Any way – they both look so nice and you must be a proud mum!
I’m sorry to read about your not so good relation with your mother 😦 It’s not a rare case, unfortunately 😦
May 13, 2013 at 1:58 am
Thank you for your lovely comment Andreja. I am extremely proud of my kiddos and you are right…my son is not really big on having his picture taken. He would much rather be behind the camera…like me. Yes, sadly, not a rare case as you stated. Ah well…I will use another of my favorite quotes..this time by Kahlil Gibran
“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”
May 13, 2013 at 11:53 am
Thank you for this post. I am definitely in this camp. I adore my daughter and feel like because I have the rocky relationship with my mother, I have been so mindful to have a relationship with my daughter just as she is; not what I am. I love that she and I are different yet great friends. I do have lots of regrets that no matter how hard I have tried, I can’t get there with my mom. I have admired you for so long, and I am sorry you have this bittersweet notion of the day, yet I am also comforted that I am not alone!
May 13, 2013 at 6:47 pm
It is also a bittersweet day for those who wish to be mother’s and for some reason nothing works out…..I really hope one day I will be so lucky to be called mom. It’s all I have ever wanted and i would give up all I have for beautiful precious babies. Even adoption is not as easy as people make it sound. Nobody understands the pain of infertility on mother’s day. I love my mom dearly and love to make it about her but it is a painful day for me as well. Hugs to you!
May 16, 2013 at 9:13 pm