'Do you have children?'
'No Ma'am.'
Smiles, 'Oh, well I was going to, uh, wish you a Happy Mothers Day.'
Smile reflected back,'You still can. I have a Mother who's wonderful.'

Mother. Mom. Momma.
Sometimes I call her Mommasita or MotherLove.
I hear one of my older sisters call her Mommy.

Before I began school, I sat at the kitchen table with my best friend and her mother.
My friend called her mother by her proper name and I froze, confused.
'What did you just call your mom?'
'Vicci'
'Why?'
'That is her name'
'She is you Mom.'
'Yeah, but she has a name too.'

Later, I stomped into the kitchen and confronted my own mother.
'Who are you?'
Setting her potato and paring knife down ...'What?'
'I said, who are you?'
Rinsing her hands and looking over her shoulder at me, 'Well, I am your Mother for one thing. What is going on?'
'I know you are my mom. I want to know who you are to everyone else!'

Ah, since then I have learned that my Mother is more than she or I will ever know, more than any name or word could ever communicate. If I grow to be a fraction of what she is, I will be a very content woman.

Happy Mothers Day to my own Mother, to you, to your Mothers and to all the Mothers in the world.