Every Day is Labor Day, but Mothers’ Day is the Highest Holy Day
New people are born every minute of every day. This process continually freshens the world. But the moment one becomes a parent is singular. I remember the instant I became a mother with each of my two children. It wasn’t at their conception; I wasn’t present for either of those. It wasn’t at the moment of their births; I didn’t even know they existed then. As one who can boast of having two children in seven months by two different mothers in two different countries (though within the same continent), I can cite two seminal (pardon the adjective) moments of “conception inception” for each.
I became Harry’s mother on July 25, 2002 when I sat in a tiny office in Belen, New Mexico, and beheld a photo of surprised expression culminating in the delicious butterscotch “O” of his two-month-old mouth under a thatch of fluffed-out faux-hawk hair; his cuddly onesie-clad body tensed to jump although he was lying down on his back. From then on I was in love-estrus; labor was the drive to the Albuquerque Sunport to catch him as he flew in from Seoul via Tokyo and LAX. Harry crowned at the birth canal of gate A-7 as his courier carried him through with flying colors just before his father and I forever caught him.
Xiao-Ling became my daughter during a stolen phone call during her adoption process. The information behind the call and its connection shall remain classified, but nevertheless, a dewstorm of “Hi’!”s and blown kisses transported me to fairyland. The deal was sealed as on December 1, 2007, I knelt in a Beijing courtyard to receive the fairy queen as she ran out of a house and into her parents’ arms with a cry of “Baba! Mama!” I whispered, “Wuo shi ni de Mama; wuo ai ni!” (I am your Mama, I love you!) She replied with “Wuo ai ni, Mama!” as she drew me into her arms.
To kick off our musical celebration of this Highest of Holy Days, we need a little Sophie Tucker; “My Yiddishe Mamme” (in English) needs no introduction other than Miss Tucker’s own. [listen here] For a more honeymead Yiddish flavor, check out Adrienne Cooper’s “Di Mame / Shopping for Love”: “At the market I met the boy of my dreams: dark eyes, white teeth; I love every part of him. When mother went out to buy coal, she came back with a good-looking Pole. Now I’ve drunk wine and eaten almonds. I’ve tasted love and can’t live without it. I’d eat without a table; I’d sleep without a pillow just to be with you. Without you I am like a knob without a door.” [listen here].
MIRAJ (http://www.mirajtrio.com/) is a vocal trio from the Philadelphia area. “Weaning”, by Margot L. Stein, deals with the raising of Biblical children as a parallel for modern examples of giving our children roots and wings [listen here].
Nobody’s perfect, least of all mothers. In this Ladino standard, beautifully rendered by Cantor Richard Botton, mother gets the blame for a sweetheart’s flawed soul: “When your mother gave to the world
she did not give you a heart for a second love. “ [listen here]
And finally, a little something for Mom / Mamme / Ima herself: I cotton to Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman’s “Harbstlid (Autumn Song)” beautifully rendered by Adrienne Cooper, as a salute to growing more effulgent as I sail on into the ocean of motherhood, with all its tolls, its treats and tribulations: “See! It’s autumn and everything that was green is fading… all that bloomed is yellowing. And I thought that spring would last forever and that I could hold eternithy in the palm of my hand. O falling leaves, o fleeting days, how will I find my way when autumn’s haze shrouds my path? A driving rain like a galloping herd whispers that it holds me dear, and asks why I wait for spring when autumn promises bushels full of gold.” [listen here]
A zisn tag Mame…Chag Sameach l’Eema…. Happy Mothers’ Day.