🌸 The Kind of Mother’s Day No One Talks About Real Life, As It Is — Entry 3 Real Life, As It Is — Entry 3

Mother’s Day is coming and I keep seeing all the usual things. But it’s also 🌸 The Kind of Mother’s Day No One Talks About Real Life, As It Is and this is Real Life, As It Is — Entry 3. Let me know what you think about Mother’ Day and why.

There is no, perfect plans. No, big gatherings. No, pictures with flowers and no, smiling kids ie adults because Charlie is still in Hobart, Oklahoma. Knowing Charlie there may not even be a phone call.

And I just sit here with my own version of Mother’ Day.

My mom and my daughter Suzzie are in Heaven celebrating Mother’s Day and Suzzie’s Birthday.
That never really stops being part of the day, even when I try to keep moving.

David’s mom — who is really more like a best friend and has always treated me like her own daughter — she’s there in her own way too, but it’s still different now than it used to be. David Sr. is in the hospital, so mom doesn’t feel like celebrating anything.

C is on Hobart. David will be working. And I’ll be at home. Just home and that is okay because I have Bear, Pheobie, books to read and tv shows to watch. Gerald will probably be asleep on the couch like it’s any other day, and honestly… it probably will be for most people.

That’s the part that sits with me the most. Not bitterness. Just truth. Most likely, no one will really remember it’s Mother’s Day in the middle of everything else going on. And I think that’s the part people don’t talk about.

Not every Mother’s Day is flowers and breakfast in bed.

Some of them are quiet. Some of them are heavy in a way nobody sees. Some of them are just you, sitting in a house that still feels full and empty at the same time. And maybe this year… that’s just what it is.

No big moment. No picture-perfect version. Just a day that comes and goes while life keeps moving.

I don’t know about for you, but Mother’s Day is coming, and everywhere I look it feels the same.

Perfect plans.
Smiling photos.
Breakfast in bed that somehow doesn’t make a mess.

And I sit here thinking…

What about the days like yesterday?

The ones where you’re too tired to celebrate anything. Where dinner is fend for yourself. Where you forget to drink water, forget to move, forget to slow down until it’s too late. What about the moms who are just trying to get through the day without falling apart?

Because that’s part of it too. Not the picture-perfect version—but the real one.

The quiet mornings.
The long afternoons.
The nights where you collapse into bed and hope tomorrow feels different.

Mother’s Day isn’t just about the highlight reel.

It’s about showing up on the days no one sees.
It’s about continuing, even when you’re running on empty.

And maybe this year…
that’s enough.

If your days don’t look perfect right now, you’re not doing it wrong.
You’re living it.

If no, one else remembers Happy Mother’s Day not only today but everyday.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates