I am going to share a little story.

[TNNurse]

I am not a mother; thought I would be but that was not to be.

I worked as a nursing supervisor in a hospital, often on Mother's Day. One year, an employee wished me " Happy Mother's Day" and I told him that I was not a mother. He replied "But you do motherly things". I thanked him for the compliment. I was pleased at the thought. "Doing motherly things" was high praise to me.

Here's to all of you who are mothers, grandmothers and those who "do motherly things". Hope you are appreciated. I miss my own but know she no longer suffers.

[Srkdqltr]

1. Happy Mother's Day to you. Motherly things qualify.

[BlackSkimmer]

2. I lost mine in 2017.

She would have been 97 on June 7.

K and r. Nice post.

[BOSSHOG]

7. My Mom would have been 97

Last week. She died in 1966. I talk to her every day.

Nurses are awesome. THANK YOU TNNURSE. I’ve spent sometime confined to a hospital bed. Let me Repeat Nurses are awesome.

[BlackSkimmer]

13. !00% on the nurses!

I'm so sorry to hear you lost your mom so early.

I talk to mine too.

[BOSSHOG]

19. Thank You

She was a nurse and was very ill in the end. Lung issues.

It’s good for me to check in with her. We didn’t have much time together but, take out her health problem and our time was all good.

[Ex Lurker]

11. My mother is 84

She has a bad hip and has trouble getting around. She fell yesterday, fortunately wasn't hurt. She's having a few little cognitive issues. I worry about her and I worry about me getting along without her.

[BlackSkimmer]

16. I know exactly how you feel.

Make sure you cherish every minute.

Yes, my mom fell right in front of me once, barely missing a sharp counter corner. It scared the crap out of me.

She just would NOT use a cane or walker.

[Ex Lurker]

44. So last night

she woke my father up at 3AM thinking it was time for breakfast. He gave her some applesauce and a tranquilizer and she went back to bed. She woke up again in tears at 830 because "the wedding is off." Apparently she had the idea one of her grandsons was getting married and the engagement fell through (not true, he has a steady girlfriend but they're nowhere near ready to get married). This afternoon she hallucinated that the neighbor across the street threw her husband out (also not true) as well as a couple of other things.

Most of the time she's okay but now and then she has episodes of confusion and hallucinations that are very disturbing. Totally unlike her, she has no history of psychosis. She's under treatment for epilepsy and I wonder if these are subclinical seizures. Her Dr does not want to put her through a bunch of tests when a diagnosis wouldn't change anything.

Sorry to vent. It was a sad Mother's Day.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Nursing is one of the most mothering professions in the world.

That is why the nursing profession always gets such high approval rates.
Much higher than other medical personnel.

Nurses are seen as trustworthy and kind.
Just like our moms.

TN Nurse: Do something nice for yourself tomorrow.
You deserve it.

[LoisB]

4. Happy Mothering Day

[TNNurse]

5. Yesterday, the 12th was our 44th wedding anniversary.

I planned the wedding the day before Mother's Day and it worked out well for both mothers.

We had obligations yesterday, so we fixed a nice meal tonight and are just relaxing.

Glad to be a retired nurse, it is so very tough now, not that it was easy back then.

[MerryBlooms]

12. How lovely, 44 years, I'm so happy for you!

April 24th would have been our 40th, he passed in 2002. I still miss miss him. I tried a couple of times to move on, but it didn't work out. My true love rests, and I still dream of him. I've been without him so long now, but still seems like yesterday.

Congratulations. I wish you many more years of love and love. ❤️

[MerryBlooms]

6. 🥰

[3catwoman3]

8. What a lovely story. Something to cherish.

My favorite part of my peds nurse practitioner career was first time parents and new babies. I often felt as if I were sort of a surrogate mom to those moms who did not have their moms nearby.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. ...

[OAITW r.2.0]

10. I don't think you have to have children to be motherly.

And I don't think that having children automatically makes you motherly. It's a state of mind.

[Hortensis]

14. Lovely, TN. Same to all.

[llmart]

15. I've never been very fond of most prescribed holidays.

I know that others feel differently. I've always thought about all the people for whom it becomes a painful day to just get through. I lost my mother to breast cancer when I was 17. It was around Mother's Day that I was told she wouldn't last for another week or two and she died shortly after Mother's Day. I'm now 74, the mother of two grown children and a grandmother to one. I was thinking today about how for so many of my younger years I hated going in a card store and not being able to buy a nice card for my mother. I sometimes had to leave the store so I didn't start crying.

There are so many situations where it can be extremely difficult for a woman when Mother's Day comes around - those who lost children, couldn't have children, had children that were not exactly exemplary, children who ignore them most of the year, or children who can't even be bothered to call them.

Not to be a downer or anything, but your post reminds me that there are all sorts of people who are more nurturing than actual mothers too. My ex-husband's mother was a total nightmare - cruel, cold, unloving, abusive.

I like what another poster said, "Happy Mothering Day", but I would love it if it wasn't so commercialized like everything else in this country.

[BlackSkimmer]

18. Yes, my dad died the week before Thanksgiving, and then a few years later mom was

diagnosed on Christmas Eve. Both of those holidays were my favorites, but I no longer observe them.

I know what you mean about going into a card store...hell it's been 7 years and I still find myself thinking about going to write her an email or give her a call.

[llmart]

20. It's something you never really get over no matter how old you get.

My father died when I was 22. I used to feel like I was an orphan, but that I was too old to be called that. I went through my entire adult life without my parents to share in the big moments or to be there for the trying times. I had no one to ask "what was I like as a four-year old" when I was raising my own two children, or " did I ever have the chicken pox".

I feel for you.

[BlackSkimmer]

22. We all end up as orphans, but I can't imagine all that you lost so young.

Damn.

I'm glad you have kids; at least you can share the stories and pictures with them.

[Cracklin Charlie]

17. You must be pretty good at the "motherly things".

For him to have recognized it.

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

[AmBlue]

21. This is my first Mother's Day without my Mom.

I miss her more than words can say, but like you am glad she no longer suffers. Very grateful for my husband and grown kids who always spoil me on Mother's Day.

I hired RN's for the VA for many years and know well the many "motherly things" you do, and then some!! Thank you for ALL you do! And Happy Mother's Day to you!! 💐💐💐

[catchnrelease]

41. Same for me

My Mom died last Sept at 96. And I feel the same, miss her so much but I hated the way she was in her last year.

[AmBlue]

42. I am so sorry for your loss, and mine

It's a sad day when you realize that, despite everything you do and the best medical care, there is no going back and 9/10ths of the Mom you knew and loved your whole life is just not coming back. My Mom would have been mortified by what dementia did to her. I miss the person she really was... she was a great Mom and my best friend all my life.

And Happy Mother's Day if you're a Mom!! 💐

[catchnrelease]

43. Thank you!

Yes, when I would visit and see Mom just lying in her bed it broke my heart. She had been an active woman up until her early 80s I'd say. She never had 'real' dementia and did know me and our family really until the end, just physical effects from a stroke and no short term memory left. I could tell she was more than ready go. I often thought how horrified she would have been at what had happened to her. She was a tough and loving woman and a great role model for all in my extended family. At least you and I were lucky enough to have great Moms and good memories of them.

I am a Mom--to a 52yr old who is also a great Mom to her kiddos. Best to you

[AmBlue]

48. We were indeed so lucky to have great Moms.

Now, it's time to turn attention to ourselves and our families, as they would want us to do. Take care!!

[onecaliberal]

23. Love that. Happy Motherly Day.

[cachukis]

24. Thought that about my sister, who would have been a great mother,

but chose fulfillment in another way. She has mothered my children and my siblings children to pubescent trips to Washington, DC to experience a wider horizon.
Mothers rule.

[malaise]

25. A,beautiful OP

Happy Mothers’ Day to you

[Hekate]

26. To You...

[KPN]

27. Nice post! That is high praise and well deserved I suspect.

A bit premature but Happy Mothers Day TNNurse.

[Raine]

28. Very nice, thank you for sharing that story 💕

and Happy Mother's Day to you for all the motherly things you do.

[housecat]

29. Happy Mother's Day and Grandmother's Day

I'm not a grandmother and not much of a mother, but my mother and her mother were perfect. So here's to the sweetest grandmother and mother who have been with me since they passed.

[treestar]

30. Ever since middle age

I've been many times wished a happy mother's day, but am at most an aunt. I'll take it!

[Sogo]

31. A very wise man I have known once said that "all women are mothers."

It's just in our nature to nuture, I guess. I'm sure as a nurse you provided much motherly nurturing, and that deserves to be celebrated! Happy Mother's Day to you!!

[Cha]

32. So True and beautifully said..

Mahalo, TNNNurse.

[Ilsa]

34. Sending love to many moms of children who died by gun violence this year. nt

💔💔💔💔💔

[Maraya1969]

35. Thank you so much and same to you.

I never had kids either but I have taken care of dogs and some cats for all my life. I always think of that on mother's day but you are right - it is reserved for mothers of human children. I've always wanted someone to say "Happy Mother's Day" to me

[Roy Rolling]

36. Historically Accurate

In ancient Sanskrit literatures they speak of other mothers besides the biological one. A nurse was one of them.

[Javaman]

37. My mom would have been 99 this year

Happy Mother’s Day mom. Oh how I’m miss you. 😢

[peacebuzzard]

38. clerk at gas &market asked if I was a mother too. I said no.

then she asked if I was a pet mom. That woke me up (I was there for coffee only after a long night of work)
I said yes. (I couldn't wait to see my kitties after dealing with lots of people all night)
she said "Happy Mothers Day" and gave me free coffee.
Wow. First present I have had in a long while.
Nice story, TNNurse. thought I would share mine.💐🌷

[Evolve Dammit]

47. You're a Mom. Happy Mother's Day!

[peacebuzzard]

49. five cats is like having toddlers lol

thank you.

[Peregrine Took]

39. My church has the moms go up to the altar for blessings, holy cards and applause!

I think its quite insensitive to do so.

Some women aren't mom's for a variety of personal reasons and being physically separated from the "mom" group makes them the "other" - not as worthy, etc. People look around to see who didn't go up there.

[Jilly_in_VA]

40. I went to a church that did a variation on that

but you picked up yours at the door. If you were a mom (or expecting your first) you got a pink carnation. If you weren't, but your mother was still living, you got a red one. If you weren't and your mother had died, a white one. And because we had a number of foster mothers in the congregation, they put out striped ones for them, and for the women and girls in the congregation who didn't know where their mothers were. That way everyone was included, and there was a prayer for "all those who mothered us, in every way". And BTW, this was a charismatic, evangelical church. (That was before it took a harder right turn...at the time it had an active ministry among young street people.)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

45. Last week, two different times in two different grocery stores,

I had a man probably young enough to be my son (I'm 74) wished me Happy Mother's Day. They were very sweet.

I do happen to be a mother, but I hope I'd have been touched by them even if I'd never had kids.

[Evolve Dammit]

46. He was right. It all counts.