I take a deep breath and remind myself, it’s that time of year again.

You know, the day set apart to honor and celebrate moms. The day children write poems as tokens of their love and families gather to celebrate mothers.

A glorious day of recognition for women with children.

A gut-wrenching day for women without – many are still in the child-waiting zone and many have lost their children too soon.

My inability to have children glares at me on Mother’s Day and I brace myself for the encounter each year. The pain of loss occasionally takes my breath away, yet as time marches on I learn to prepare. I head off the pain by remembering people in my life to whom I am a mom of sorts. I am so thankful for those I love and for those who love me.

This year, I have a request for you on behalf of women who struggle with Mother’s Day:
for arms that form an empty cradle,
for hands once clasped with a tinier version,
for love outstretched to a wayward child,
and for friends in self-imposed solitary unable to ask for care.

My request is simple.

Will you please enfold your friends in love this Mother’s Day?

With a text, call, note, flower, or a meal.

Pastor, rabbi, clergy men and women – will you include these precious women who have suffered loss in your Mother’s Day service? As we rightly recognize God’s gift of mothers will you also pray for women who are in the pain of longed-for motherhood and ask for peace for those mourning the loss of a child?

Not to detract from the wonder of our mothers but to include and care for these women as well.

Could we all, in the midst of hugging our own mothers, offer others the warmth of a loving embrace?

Thank you and Happy Mother’s Day!

(Will you tell me about your Mother’s Day experience? I would love to hear your story.)