Spin Cycle: Mother's Day

To say that I resisted change as a child is an understatement. I usually approached each new situation with lusty crying, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. The good news is that once I got past the initial trauma and discovered that the new experience wasn’t going to kill me, I was okay and all was dismissed.

Unfortunately, the first day of kindergarten didn’t go away so easily. On that fateful day I did my usual sobbing and clung to my mother’s skirt in the parking lot in front of the school. Once inside I was fine and by the end of the day I had forgotten that I had even been upset. Until...

Fast forward eight months to Mother’s Day. During Mass the parish priest presented a slide show of touching mother and child photos he had taken during the year. Everyone in my family seemed to have mentally blocked the fact that he was snapping away on the first day of school. You guessed it, there was photographic evidence of my kindergarten catharsis. When the slide of the little redheaded girl bawling away and clutching to her mother’s hem appeared, the entire congregation burst into laughter. My mother, on the other hand, couldn’t slide down into the pew far enough. In a parish dominated by Italians there wasn’t any mistaking to whom the redhead belonged.

Every single Mother’s Day that slide popped up on the screen to the usual chuckles. And every single Mother’s Day my mom glared at me. But what could I do? I didn't take the photo and I had long since stopped crying on the first day of anything. Actually, I’m a little surprised that my mom agreed to go to Mass on Mother’s Day after that. I suppose she hoped that the slide had been misplaced during the year. Or maybe deep down she really liked the notoriety? Eventually, my parents moved to Florida and it was no longer an issue.

Either way, here’s to a slide show-free Mother’s Day!

For more Spins of Mother's Day, visit Sprite's Keeper.