Yesterday was Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday as they call
it) in the UK. I’m always caught by this, and sure enough, late last night as I
was going to bed I decided to check Fb, and was surprised once again that the
first five or six updates on my feed were entries about Mother’s Day. I met almost
all (bar one or two) of my UK Fb friends through pregnancy loss. So they were
(mostly – not all) more sensitive about Mother’s Day, and had put up statuses expressing
their love for those who might find Mother’s Day hard, or for those children
who had lost their mothers, or mothers who had lost children. Still, I cringed
ouch at these, because they were unexpected, and reminded me once again that I
was left out, and that I’ll go through this all over again in May, when other
parts of the world celebrate Mother’s Day.
But then I thought of the others who might be reading these
posts – the women who live in the UK, who had to put up with two weeks of unavoidable
over-the-top advertising, and had to live through this day. They were the ones
who needed the love and hugs that were offered by (most) of my lovely,
sensitive friends, to let them know they were not alone. And I was thankful
to be reminded that wherever we are, we are not alone.
Ouch! I have several UK friends too, and I forgot that UK Mother's Day is before US Mother's Day and was caught completely off guard by seeing several posts. I usually avoid Facebook on Mother's Day weekend (as well as Father's Day and April Fools Day) because I just can't take it. Reminders are everywhere. :(
ReplyDeleteOh! That sure hurts! :(
ReplyDeleteUgh. We're coming up on that time of year again, aren't we? Such a bummer. Sending love.
ReplyDeleteI managed to avoid the updates mostly because I managed to avoid social media over the weekend because we had visitors. Though I can't avoid the things that hit my email inbox.
ReplyDeleteOh no, two Mother's Days when I find just the one completely exhausting. You are so sensitive to others' thoughts and feelings, it must be extra taxing to go through those holidays, for your own hurts and then for the sympathy for others' hurts. I hope it went quickly and so does the May date...
ReplyDeleteI saw very few references but even one was enough. Limited exposure to the 'nets as a result.
ReplyDeletePeace be with you.
Hugs for you and for those that find any Mother's Day a struggle. Glad that there are those that could write posts acknowledgement.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I now use Mother's Day & Father's Day as another way to treat each other. He buys me a gift on "Savannah's Day" and do the same for him on "Josh's Day." Its actually become something I really look forward to now.
ReplyDeleteI really like that idea. Maybe we'll try that!
DeleteYikes, bad enough to have to endure one Voldemort Day, let alone two...! :p Hope you had a good day... one down, one to go?
ReplyDeleteI also love Savannah's idea, though usually we just buy flowers for my MIL in May. This year, though, incidentally I'll be away on a trip during Mother's Day in Finland (it was a coincidence). In fact, I'll be meeting some online friends on Mother's Day, so it's an exciting prospect to me! :-D
ReplyDeleteP.S. I can relate to these types of unexpected posts in FB. Sometimes I get online without realizing anything and then BOOM. I'm glad to hear that your friends were very sensitive, though.