"Happy Mother's Day! Want a cup of tea?"

I awake to see my oldest daughter, Kate, standing in my bedroom doorway.

"Annie and I are making breakfast for you. Do you want to sit outside?"

"Kate, give me a minute! I'm not quite awake." I can't help but smile at her eagerness to get me up.

"Take your time. I'll be back with your tea."

I used to dread Mother's Day. I remember year after year waking up and knowing it wasn't a day off. Usually I had to help my girls, Kate and Annie, get ready for a soccer game or a gymnastic meet. When they were younger, I had to make breakfast, gather their equipment and prepare their snacks.

Normally, I didn't mind this routine, except on Mother's Day when I was driving the girls somewhere, and listening to radio ads like, "Take Your Mom to Brunch!" That'll be the day, I thought.

Plus, I was a single mom, so there was no dad around to coach the girls to do something special for Mother's Day. No cards, flowers or breakfast in bed.

Each year, I'd try a new approach. When the girls were around either or nine, I'd say, "Hey guys, how about making a card or picking some flowers from the garden for Mother's Day?"

Sometimes they'd respond. Sometimes they wouldn't.

When they were older and driving I'd say, "Hey guys, how about going somewhere for Mother's Day?"

"We've got it handled," one of them would say and the hours would pass and no plan emerged. Finally, I'd salvage the day and take us all out to dinner so at least I wouldn't have to cook.

Ultimately, I got proactive and figured, if I wanted to do something special on Mother's Day, I'd plan it myself and they'd have to come.

"This weekend is Mother's Day," I declared one year when Kate and Annie were still in high school. "And we're going hiking."

"Where are we going?" Kate asked. Before I could answer she turned to her sister, "Hey, Annie!" Do you have your walking stick?" They both started laughing. (My friends gave me hiking poles for my birthday one year and the girls never let me live it down.)

"How about Tennessee Valley?" I tried to ignore their teasing, but I had to admit they were funny. "Come on, I know you guys like this hike, and we can take a picnic." Kate and Annie kept on laughing, but I knew we had a date.

Kate pops her head into my bedroom. "Ready, now?"

I turn over and see my beautiful twenty-three year old daughter standing in front of me again only this time with a cup of tea and a bouquet of pink tulips and lilac.

"Breakfast is being served in the garden," Kate announces as she sets down the tea and the vase of flowers. She leaves before I can even get up.

I slowly get up remembering the times I wondered if I could make it as a mom and if the girls would grow up OK. Somehow, we all made it through. They now have jobs and make their own money. And, yes, they can even plan a Mother's Day outing, complete with flowers, tea and breakfast outdoors.

It doesn't get much better than this.

By Marilee Stark

Labels: Marilee Stark

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