The physical absence of my Mom (who died last July) and my Dad (+2019) is still… uncanny. It’s more than just “missing them” (though I do, certainly). I know they have gone to be with the Lord, to be drawn through His mercy (which brings healing and perfection) to the eternal joy, the beatitude, of unending communion with Him.
I think of them every day, and pray for them. I really think they also pray for me, and continue to look after me and my brother and Eileen and the grandchildren. But life in this world has changed in ways I never could have imagined, and sometimes it has been strange and dislocating, overwhelming and full of sorrow.
Life changes, and we have to “let go” of people we love, so as to grow toward the One who holds us all in His love - to seek Him in deeper, more mysterious ways, including those dark valleys where we don’t even know what’s happening or where we’re going as He carries us on His shoulders.
I missed my Mom on this first Mother’s Day without her.
I worked on “restoring” the photo above, with only limited success. It looks to be sometime in 1963, with my very young parents, Walter as a toddler, and me as an infant. Here is the young Janaro family in 1963.
Meanwhile, I was glad that Eileen got to see all five of her children at our house during the course of the day, plus her granddaughter. She is a wonderful mother (and nana) as well as being a wonderful wife. I know that seeing everyone made her happy. On a bittersweet day, this was the “sweet part.”
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers!
