This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I have something I would like to
pass on to you. If your mother is living, go tell her you love her. Go tell her
how much you appreciate all she did for you when you were growing up.
Go tell her how much it means to you that she is a part of your life.
I say this for a very important reason. I would really love to be able
to tell my mom all of this and have her understand. My mother had a
stroke about six years ago. She knows I am her daughter, but since there are
five of us, she isn’t sure which one I am. She always seems pleased to see
me when I visit, but she doesn’t remember I was there after I leave. We
don’t honestly know how much she knows or remembers, because she
rarely speaks. She doesn’t know I write this column. She doesn’t know how
beautiful the library I work in is. She doesn’t know she has
great-grandchildren.
The only person she fully recognizes is my dad. She seems to like
the place she lives. But I miss my mother. The one who I had noisy
discussions about books with, the one who did the New York Times Crossword Puzzle
in ink. The one who participated so fully in our lives. If you have always
meant to tell your mom how important she is to you, do it now. You never
know when you are going to lose that chance.
PPP
If you are between the ages of 11 and 18 and would like to make a
corsage for your mother, you can come to the North Bend Library on
Saturday, May 13, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Kim Lafferty, librarian and
graduate of the Seattle Floral Institute, will be there to help you make the
perfect corsage for Mom.
PPP
Funky Fact: Anna Jarvis started Mother’s Day in 1906. The
Philadelphia woman proposed a day to honor mothers shortly after her own
mother’s death. It was made an official
“day” by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914, who specified the second
Sunday in May should be set aside as Mother’s Day. The tradition of
wearing flowers started by Ms. Jarvis continues with people wearing a red
or pink carnation if their mother is living, and a white carnation if
their mother has died.
PPP
I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to Timothy Richard Myers.
He’s my grandnephew and will turn 1 on May 12.
PPP
Can you smell the honey in the air? That’s the cottonwoods
blooming. And soon, as those of you who share my allergies know, it will be
snowing cottonwood fluff all over the Valley.
It is beautiful around the Valley with all the trees blooming. My
lilacs, no longer being nibbled, are in full bloom and the whole house is full
of their fragrance. The elderberry is blooming and I have spring
beauties and trilliums in my woods. I have been finding robins’ eggshells in the
yard. That must be why the robins are so busy pulling worms. There are
families to feed. Spring is a very busy time in Mother Nature’s world.
PPP
If you have been feeding the birds in the winter, keep putting out seed
for a while longer. It helps the parents feed the young ones if they have a
supply of food available.
If you are interested in landscaping for wildlife, you can contact
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for a list of plants that
give food and shelter to birds. You can write to them at 16018 Mill Creek
Blvd., Mill Creek, WA 98012 or go to their Web site at
www.wa.gov/wdfw. You can also ask for a list of
deer-resistant plants if you are not interested in
feeding the larger wildlife around here.
You can, of course, also get this information at your local King
County Library branch. We are, after all, open seven days a week to serve you.
(Just a little plug, there.)
PPP
Thought for the Week: God could not be everywhere, so he
created mothers. -Jewish Proverb.
Please submit items for
North Bend Nuggets to
Pat Simpson at P.O. Box 857,
North Bend, WA 98045,
or by e-mail to patsimps@hotmail.com,
or drop them by the library.
