I Survived My First Mother's Day Without My Mom
The first Mother's Day without her won't be a sob story, just another day.
Mother's Day is not celebrated by everyone. The TV ads for the so-called "perfect Mother's Day gift" have never phased me. But now, six months after unexpectedly losing my mom, I can't bear to watch them, as they remind me that, for the first time ever, I am one of those people that can't celebrate how amazing my mother is.
Mother's Day was never a big deal in my house, just a day where I could buy my stuff that I figured she would enjoy. Usually just some candy and plants, nothing special. It was just another Sunday, just with a little more recognition of having the coolest mom in the world. Last year on Mother's Day, the last one spent together, I bought my mom a plant that I knew she would forget to water, along with a card, then left it for her while I went to work all day. Little did I know that this would be the last time I would be able to do this.
Looking back, I don't feel bad for not spending that day with her. Like I said, Mother's Day was always like any other day. Unfortunately, it will actually be just another day for me, since this is the first year that I have no mother to celebrate. I never appreciated this random Sunday until now.
But I'm not sad. And if you're not celebrating a mom this year, you shouldn't be either. Because six months have passed since losing her. Mother's Day is just another day of not having her around, just like every day for half a year now.
I will definitely think of her, and wish to be spending the day with her, but then I will move on. Just like I should every day.
I am not a very sentimental person, so I can't speak for everyone. But I find it much easier to treat a sad day as just another day. The great days and the not-so-great days will run their course, then they will turn into a brand new day, a new chance to start all over. Why should any holiday be an exception? Sure, the first Mother's Day not celebrating with my mom around will happen, but then it will pass, just like an average day.
This holiday will come and go every year, and the next day will always be following. And it's much better to be sad for one day because a new, easier day will come soon after.
