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Photo by Yuri Levchenko, Creative Commons, via Flickr.
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My mother wasn't perfect (shhh, don't tell her I said that),
but she did her best to love my sister and me. Part of that love meant she read
poetry to us, every day before we got on the school bus. Part of it was
expressed in the walks she took us on, to pick wild strawberries by day or find
the Big Dipper and the Seven Sisters by night. She was especially good about
making us little handmade cards for Valentine's Day. I still remember the
unique shape of the tiny hearts she'd put by her name, Mommy.
Time has passed, so much time, but the gifts
persist--particularly in how she influenced my love of words and gave me ways
of seeing the world. If I could give something back to her this year, it would
be something from this list (in fact, I chose two, but I'm not telling which,
in case she happens to find this post, which is unlikely, but you never know
what secrets the Internet accidentally divulges).
10 Great Word Ways to Love Your Mother for Valentine's
Day
1. Everything That Makes You Mom, from the publisher of an inspiring mom website, where you could potentially find even more mom gift ideas. You won't have time to fill this book up with mom-memories before Valentine's Day, but you could very well give it to your mother along with a promise to do it together over the phone or lunch for a while, as a way to connect. Watch for the orange poncho and the pancake frisbees.
2. Jealous Poem Stacks. Forget
what your mom told you about not being jealous of others. Get jealous for
words, and make her some fun poem stacks, pulling from books on birds, gems and minerals,
or flowers. You could
send the stacks along with that sci-fi chocolate you've
been meaning to get her.
3. Spin:
Taking Your Creativity to the Nth Degree. Set mom spinning towards
a more creative life. You could work on the question sections together and
maybe recall some stories of your own that parallel the topics like ritual, being
a kid again, and talking to strangers (yes, she told you
not to do this; now you'll show her it isn't all bad).
4. Every Day Poems. What better way to
love your mother than to give her the gift of beautiful, thoughtful, or amusing
poetry, right in her inbox? And you needn't stop there. You can discuss the
poems together for a great way to enliven your
relationship.
5. Hans
Christian Andersen, Complete Fairy Tales. Fairy tales are for
grownups too. Sometimes we forget that. Take mom back to the time when you read
these classic stories together, and help her recapture the delight of the
colorful bedtime story. Or, if you missed out on this experience as a child
(and mom did too), why not read the tales together for the first time?
6. Love You Forever. Make
her cry. Why not? You probably did that countless times over the years. And we
promise this will be a good cry. Love You Forever is a
children's book that's really a grownup's story, as we watch a young boy grow
and eventually care for his own mom. "I love you forever, I love you for
always, as long as I'm living, my baby [my mommy] you'll be." (Bet you
can't get through it eitherwithout a needing a tissue.)
7. Sophie's Masterpiece: A
Spider's Tale. Make her cry again. (You're on a roll.) This is a
beautifully-told story that follows the aging spider Sophie (don't worry, she's
a pretty arachnid) and her quest to give beautiful things to people--ending
with a final masterpiece gift to a lonely new mother. The pictures are
gorgeous, the sentiment deep.
8. A Walk in the
Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail.After numbers 6
and 7 above, mom is probably going to need this. Take her on a hilarious (and
sometimes irreverent) adventure with Bill Bryson. She will know he's doing a
lot wrong just by the traveling companion he chooses (and may feel satisfied
that she taught you better--about how to select your friends and hiking
compatriots, as well as your hiking food supplies).
9. Tea With Jane Austen. Maybe
your mom was the first to introduce you to the wit of Jane Austen. It's your
turn to be the first to introduce her to tea with Jane. This book is a
fascinating look at the world of tea in Austen's time. Includes quotes from
Austen novels and recipes you may wish your mother had made.
10. The Faraway Nearby. A memoir of apricots, mirrors, and a mother
descending into dementia. Okay, it's probably not best to give this one to her
for Valentine's Day. But if you're trying to work through troubled memories of
mom (or deal with a challenging care-giving situation), this might be just the
book to keep for yourself. That's allowed.
This post is a modified reprint of a post that first
appeared at Tweetspeak
Poetry.
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