Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to my mom, to all who have fondly treated me as a daughter/granddaughter (like my Granny Evelyn that I love dearly), and to all of you who are mothers. It is with considerable sadness that I realize that I won't be able to hug or receive a hug from my mom. And my heart particularly goes out to those of you (particularly my good friend Christy and my cousins Joey and Bobby, etc) that have lost their mom's this year.

Mothers Day here is always May 10th. Per the usual tradition here, it started at 3AM with pick up trucks that have huge speakers in the bed of the truck going up and down all the streets playing (actually blaring beyond the point of distortion) the traditional "Mothers Day Songs" in order to alert everyone that it's time for the celebrations to begin. That means that nearly everyone started to loudly play the songs in their homes to show honor for their mother. This was also followed by fireworks (not the pretty kind you see in the sky...these are the just the pop-pop-pop type that throw off paper and smoke and they loudly burst- sounding much like the firing of a gun. This is also done to signify the start of this much celebrated day. Oh- I forgot to mention that the numerous Catholic churches also rang their bells as part of the early AM celebration. My teacher tells me that a mom may receive flowers, gifts, a meal at a restaurant, etc at some point during the day. Larger employers give moms (only moms) the day off or a little bit of extra pay. At the end of the day, more fireworks and bell ringing around 10pm signify that the day of celebration is over. Thank you God!