Mother’s Day Zen

When I read this post on Lost Bird Found I think I actually stopped breathing.

Sara Jensen designs the clothing and accessories you see on her site and keeps her lovely blog as a subtle compliment to that work. You’ll see that everything she does is brilliantly simple while also strangely unique.

With her permission I am re-publishing this post from a few days ago. Read it here now, find a special Mother’s Day offer at the end and leave a comment for one my Mother’s Day Zen prize packs.

4 years ago I lost her.

By Sara Jensen and her mother, Josephine Sterling Callisen.

A poem my mother wrote, before she passed away. We read this at her service.

All day I’ve fought back tears
Starting sudden, unannounced, commanding me to attention
At the strangest times.
I was wrapping something-it had been my mother’s–
nothing much
even tacky
a quick thought but true
as it had been then….
And I thought: there can’t be fusion without parting.
There can’t be that measured road of parenthood, of childhood
Without the ruts, the tearing of earth, the uprooted branches,
Starting from birth, the splitting almost in two
As if seeming to break
But before ripping to pieces, falling down a soft tunnel of forgetting
Into a new scene entirely, another beginning.
Still, there is this time when one hangs
Very small, solitary, surrounded by thin air,
A spider swinging in the darkness
Assaulted by memories of light.
I remember those times now, though they are usually shrouded
By the velvet darkness that has cushioned and buried my many falls
That has with iron hands helped me up again, to go to higher ground.
Now stripped and bare
Whipping into my eyes in the merciless light
Snapped there by my own heedless forward march.
And I know that they will pass for you as they did for me.
But: small comfort for you that I say this,
You suspended there, hanging between the darkness and the light.
I know that I can’t pull you up.
I know that you will find your own way through the night.
And I know that you will inch slowly, surely,
With much doubt and misgiving With much strength and grace.
In the morning your web
The one you thought you could not spin
The one I knew you would
Will remind me once again that there is no ending without beginning
That I will have no night that will not be eclipsed by your morning.

——

In honor of Mother’s Day, Sarah is offering all of you 10% off of tote bag. It’s $44.00 but hand-printed and rather large, so with the discount I think it makes for the perfect Mother’s Day present.

Find it here.

Use MAMA at check out for the 10% discount. For every tote sold Sarah also donates $1.00 to the Liz Logelin Foundation.

I’ll also be thinking of Matt and Maddy this Sunday. He says he’s doing better than ever but your support is always, always welcome. If you can’t donate to the Foundation at least spread the word across your various social networks and on Twitter.

It’s the reason Matt keeps going – doing what he’s doing – all of these TV appearances and other interviews. Even if it’s only for a second or a moment, Matt just wants to ease the pain of other widowed parents through Liz’s Foundation.

—–

And now… your Mother’s Day Zen (in lieu of our Single Mom Friday Zen) Contest:

Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a special prize pack with a combination of the following:

Happily Ever After Divorce by Jessica Bram.

Second Spring by Dr. Maoshing Ni

And I have two of these awesome games from Single Edition left.

Just leave a comment to enter and Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day is weird for me because, aside from my first, I’ve been single. Typically it’s just like any other day. Can’t wait until Benjamin is old enough to make me breakfast in bed.

Mother’s Day SIDE NOTES: If you’re looking for new Mom blogs check out this awesome collection of mommy blogs at BettyConfidential.com. So honored to be on that list. And your necklace, THE necklace, is en route. I had it specially designed just for us and you are going to freak out when you see it but I’m waiting to reveal it and announce the winner until I have it in my hands.

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1. Do something.
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4. Single Mom Dating Zen: Lions & Tigers
5. The Married Single Mom

Tagged as: dating game, divorce book, mother's day, single mom