Post Mother's Day Post...

 Yesterday, I like millions of others, I perused various social media sites. Because it was Mother's Day, almost all those posting on the day could be classified into two camps:

Those with mothers still alive...

And those with mothers no longer here.

Of course, most of my older friends and contacts were in the second camp, my younger friends in the first. The above picture is from my niece's Facebook post. She finds herself a young person wishing she could spend the day--or at least, speak with her mother--on Mother's Day...a young person mourning a fallen parent.

Last year, my niece's mother posted about her own mother who had passed on. I know this without checking her previous posts because my sister always posted on holidays (especially Mother's Day...) about how much she missed her mom. My niece's mother is also my sister which means, of the two camps, I reside in the latter.

To those who have mothers no longer with us, I understand. I did not make a call yesterday. I did not break bread with her or my siblings or her grandkids. I did not find a gift to give or a card. To those in our camp, the day is bittersweet. We cherish the memories and our hearts hurt because of those memories.

The other camp, those who have their mothers available for calls and gifts and visits, I wondered as I read their incredible and amazing tributes just how quickly those in the first camp can find themselves in the second. Depending on the circumstances, some know with certainty that this will be the last Mother's Day, others might suspect it could happen. And some have no idea that the call they placed or the gift they gave or the visit they made will be the last time they'll be able to do this.

As a person who has lost both my mother and father, I've always said, if you live long enough, you'll attend at least two funerals, one for mother and one for father. In a year, God-willing, I'll find myself surfing through the posts of my friend. There's a good chance someone will post--like my niece did yesterday--about how this will be the first Mother's Day without their mom and how different it will be. Hopefully those new members of the second camp will have few if any regrets.