Last year, when I asked my mother what she wanted for Mother’s Day, she told me she wanted “the Facebook thing.” And so it was. I helped her set up “the Facebook thing.” For me, it was a moment where I could take a deep breath and relax a bit. My world view has Facebook and social technology tools be a key element in the current and ascending cultural shift and I want my mother to be plugged in.
This year, on Mother’s Day, I found it quite fascinating to see what each of my mother’s children gave her, and how that reflects who we’ve each become and how we wish to be of service to her as she transitions from 49 years of working as an RN into a newly hatched life of retirement. Me? I set up her computer in a new location (again, including all the emotional twists and turns around technology, connection, things challenging and difficult). I asked my brother to chip in on a fantastic new monitor for her, which he did. My feeling is that I want my mother to be as independent, vibrant and capable as she can be as she moves full-on into elderhood. Through my worldview this includes being plugged in, technologically savvy (as appropriate to her needs and shifting culture) and able to navigate online information and relationships.
My sister gave her a matching book and gizmo set: a quality pressure cooker and PC vegetarian cookbook. Why? Well, the specifics are for my sister to tell, of course, but in general, she orients toward a world view that includes sustainability, vegetarian eating and local-vore consumption. Seed saving, grey water systems, native species plants and such are in her world, and her gifts are often themed around this. I see such actions as her love for my mother in wanting to support her in a healthy, healthful life in which food has and will be a major focus, love and activity.
My brother, while he literally pitched in on the monitor, has given my mother financial advice, pushing, nudging, direction and support in transitioning to a higher level of understanding money. So much so that she’s a bit of a financial news junky now and has significantly expanded her capacity to navigate her own portfolio and a changing landscape. This is, imo, a reflection of his own life values about how to engage with, survive in and thrive in the world.
How awesome and wonderful. Each of us in our own way, contributing back to the life that gave us life. Happy mother’s day to all the mothers of the world, the husbands and fathers who made families possible and the children who gave an added dimension of union and connection.
Rock on.