“A mother is the person you can always call to find out how long chicken lasts in the fridge.”
When I saw this quote on the internet, I stared at it for a solid ten minutes, smiling. I was trying to count how many different food spoilage questions I called my mother with over the years.
She always knew the answer. If she didn’t, she answered with such great confidence that I took her words as Gospel.
When I walk into a public restroom, I still hear her firm, but sweet voice saying, “Touch nothing.”
I can still hear her say, “You don’t want to do that,” when I considered getting a mohawk haircut in high school.
“He can’t look me in the eyes, you can’t trust that guy,” she would say about roughly 75 percent of the boys I dated back then.
The thing is, she was always right. No matter what the question or circumstance, mom always seemed to be right.
“Can I wash this in the machine, or should I dry clean?” I never needed to worry about deciphering the hieroglyphics on clothing tags, because my mom knew, just by looking at something, how to clean it properly.
Mom is always the best doctor, too. They don’t need years of medical school to know you’re sick, they can tell by looking in your eyes whether you have a fever, an upset stomach or just need a mental health day.
Sure, anyone can open a can of chicken noodle soup and heat it up, but they can’t make it taste quite the way mom does.
Is there some book women get when they become mothers that contains the answers to all of life’s mysteries? I suppose not because it’s not just any mom, but yours who always has the right answers for you.
Princess Diana said it best: “A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.”
You can add to that the comfort of a mother’s presence, in person or on the other end of a phone call.
Good news, bad news, in times of victory or defeat, mom is the first person I want to share it with. I know she will celebrate or commiserate and make whatever is happening better or, at least, okay.
It’s one of those things you kind of take for granted until you reach for the phone and realize you can’t call.
I wish I had just one more Mother’s Day to tell my mom how amazing she was. I wish I could tell her that she was always right, and how great her hand felt on my forehead when she was checking me for a fever, or that she was the only one who really made Rice Krispie Treats the right way.
Most of all, I would give my mom the thing she always really wanted, the one thing, in all her wisdom, my mom knew all along there would be far too little of: time together.
Call your mom and tell her how much she matters.
Happy Mother’s Day.
