Mother’s Day is traditionally the second Sunday in May and time was upon us last weekend to celebrate. My mother passed away almost five years now. I don’t cry and wail anymore on her birthday, Christmas or Mother’s Day. The feelings of grief are better, almost so much better that I almost forgot to honor her on Mother’s Day. I did post a tribute on Facebook a couple of days early and thought of her a lot as I began to mull over the coming day, but it made me think about how we get busy and honestly, just forget about things at times. I’m not going to beat myself up. I was wrapped up hosting our family get-together, which in reality my mother would be thrilled about. But I will just re-group and put little things in place to ensure I do not ever forget my mother on her birthday and Mother’s Day.
1) Create a video frame or collage of 10-12 special photos of your mother to run on Mother’s Day or run as a screensaver show on your computer. After my parents’ deaths, we scanned in all their photos from the 1930′s onward using a service called HeritageMakers. It’s fun as well as gently sentimental to occasionally go back on the computer, view the photos and smile at all the good times we had.
2) Post an album tribute to your mother on Facebook and share with others how special your mother was.
3) Create a short movie documentary about her life in Windows Moviemaker or similar video tools using the text box and graphics tools to add the content and story line. Add her favorite music to complement the movie. Post privately to Youtube, or put on flash drives and share with your family.
4) Create an arrangement of your mother’s favorite flower(s). My mother’s favorite flower was the peony. The first time I ordered peonies from Martha Stewart online in the 90s for Mom’s Mother’s Day, the blooms were tight balls and had not opened yet. She thought they were dead! Some warm water quickly remedied that.
5) Keep a little stash of your mom’s favorite fragrance(s) for that time when you just need a little “mom” moment. Whenever I smell Estee Lauder’s Beautiful, White Linen, or lavender buds, I immediately have a silent moment with my mother.
6) Create a tradition and make one of her favorite recipes or your favorite recipe she made you as a child.
7) Wear a piece of her jewelry or repurpose a piece of her jewelry into something more contemporary if your style is different than your mother’s.
8) Place something special she created in an area of your home for your personal viewing. During her cancer treatment, my mother was still making lavender sachets. I keep one on my dresser to remind myself that in times of adversity, you can still make beautiful things for others. 
9) If you have an audio or video recording, schedule some time to watch or listen to her recorded voice or video.
10) Schedule 10 minutes to journal and write down things your mother used to tell you, things you have in common, a list of her favorite foods, jewelry, shoes, hobbies, clothes, different hairstyles she may have worn, fun facts you may not have known about her that other people told you, vacations you celebrated together, her favorite restaurants, friends, places she lived in, how she met your dad, etc. Try not to make the writing a chore but a reflective time to jot some memories. Every year, review your old list and create a new list of things to remember her by. Need help? Buy a memory book from Amazon and start filling in the pages of loving memories!
