Tag Archives: Mothers’ Day

On Fathers’ Day

When my mother suggested I’d get a flower for my father for father’s day, I looked at her like she had gone crazy. “But it’s a nice gesture,” she said.

Flowers is just not something you do on fathers’ day. And you know what, I don’t know why’s that.

Among the days specified by some unknown entity for us to remember our parents, fathers’ day takes a backseat for the more “important” mothers’ day. Even companies don’t bombard you with the same quantity of ads and you don’t even feel as guilty for not worrying about what gift you’d be getting your father.

It could be that fathers are always less emotional than mothers and you’d therefore assume they don’t care as much about their day as mothers care about theirs. But a gift must be bought!

I actually have no idea what gift someone can get their father for their day. What sort of gift would make your father transiently happy?

Then I remembered something. My father is prouder of me than my mother, if that’s even possible. And while I hate it when I find myself in a social setting and he starts bragging about what a son he has, I can see exactly how much that means to him.

With each passing day where my brothers and I make my father proud, we’re turning his day into father’s day.

God Bless my father. God Bless all the fathers whose influence over our lives is very under-appreciated. And may all of the people I know who have lost their father find solace on this day.

On a happier, less depressing note, check out this very poignant comic by Sareen Akharjalian whose blog is full of awesome and funny material (check her blog here):

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Cheers to Our Mothers

“Do you remember when you and your brothers were kids?” My mom asked me today as she was cooking meghle. “You used to hover around me, waiting for me to finish pouring it so you can eat whatever remained in the pot. It was so much nicer when you were kids…”

Behold my mom's meghle. There's also 3adas b7amod in the background.

Mothers have this thing to them. They can nag your head off and they can worry until you start worrying about yourself. Some people are said to be motherly. Some see that as a pejorative connotation. Perhaps they are right. But the way I see it, being motherly is what this world might just be lacking for us to have more compassion towards each other.

When it comes to moms, we all think ours is the best. And the truth is ours is the best. Somehow superlative comparisons between mothers fall short of truly grasping the magnitude these creatures have on your life. Their care  towards you as a baby can change the wiring of your brain. Their love makes you who you are as a person. Even the most “unfit” of mothers, as we tend to judge them, try with all their power to care for their offspring – even above their own health and sanity sometimes.

Their nagging and worrying becomes obsolete. They are doing this because it is unnatural for them not to be caring about their sons and daughters. It is unnatural for them not to feel protective. It may be debilitating sometimes but think where you would have been if they hadn’t stayed up nights and worked through days to care for you? Have you ever thought where you would be if you hadn’t deposited your fears, hurts and worries all your life in your mother?

If you’re waiting for Mother’s Day to let your mother know you love her, then you’re doing it wrong. If you’re waiting for Mother’s Day to call you mom and give her a sentimental talk, which you’ve been putting off for a long time, then you’re doing it wrong. If you’re waiting for Mother’s Day to bring your mom a gift and make her feel special, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re waiting on annual nudge for you to remember your mom, then you are doing it wrong too.

The greatest gift any mother can get is you being around, be it physically or spiritually. The greatest gift any mother would want on Mother’s Day is not an extravagant object which will make them happy for an hour or two. The most simplistic of approaches is, perhaps, the one mothers cherish most. Sometimes telling them the words “I love you” along with a hug to show them truly how much you appreciate them can be the cure they need to get through any day, making every day for them Mother’s Day.

And when I think that such ideas are, well, overly sentimental, I stop and ask my mom: “what do you want for Mother’s Day?” She looks at me, smiles warmly, then says: “Nothing. You being here is just enough.” And you know she’s being perfectly truthful.

The greatest things mothers have done are the ones even you don’t know. You owe them all that you are and hope to be. But they will never collect. They are kind, they are smart, they are beautiful, they are the most important. And even though my mother might probably never read this, I cannot but tell her on her day that I unconditionally and irrevocably love her – the kindest, most heart-warming and sincere person I’ve ever known.

“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” – William Makepeace Thackeray

Cheers to our mothers.

On Mothers’ Day…

It is the vernal equinox. And it is also Mothers’ Day in Lebanon.

So naturally, everyone starts saying how their mom is the best. Well, all moms are the best. The idea of a superlative comparison when it comes to motherhood becomes void. Why? because of all the creatures that walk this Earth, your parents, and specifically your mother, make you who you are. And they do so by giving it their all.

Mothers are your mentors, friends, guides, your light. They put up with you in situations when no one should – or no one can. They know you sometimes better than you even know yourself. And even though you bring them down on way too many occasions, they still look up at you smiling, embracing you because you are the light that shines in their lives.

I was not going to post anything for this occasion. But a combination of Marcel Khalife’s lyrics and a mental image of my mother drove my fingers on the keyboard. The lyrics of that song describe a man who misses his mom, her coffee, her bread…. He adores his life because he’d be ashamed, in case he passes away, of every tear that trickles down on his mother’s cheeks. He asks her to cover him with grass that was made holy by the sole of her feet. I can only imagine the day when I’m going to be abroad, on Mothers’ Day, thinking I’d rather be for a few hours in my hometown, with my mom.

Yes, we all have mothers. And we will never forget our mothers. So today, let me say to my mom that you are the most amazing my eyes have seen. You are the light that shines in my days and mom, I adore you.

And speaking of Mothers’ Day, check out this great Kunhadi ad with a great message.

And for those interested, this is Marcel Khalife’s song: