Today is a day of memories. For many of us, our mother is encased in thoughts of years gone by.
   My Mother left this earth far too early, but I know she is still here for me. I realize, more a more as I grow older, that the distance between the time I had with her never grows further than a thought.
   It’s funny what comes to you when you think of such a significant person. A mother gave life and guided you forward through the oncoming years. The lessons she taught, and the gentleness she personified, remain close to the heart.
   A mother’s love never grows old.
   Today I’m thinking, of all things, about clothing. I think, perhaps, my greatest sense of fashion is what I grew up with.
   My mother regularly used to dress me in striped shirts. She called them my ‘Charlie Brown’ shirts (never once did I correct her by telling her it was Linus who always wore the stripes) and stripes in all sizes and colours defined my wardrobe for many years.
   Years later, I learned that the choice of stripes was her way of distinguishing my clothes from those of my two siblings on laundry day. In our household, with three active (dare I say messy) kids, it was her way of sorting out whose was whose.
   All those stripes set a pattern that continues to this day. Even now I will purchase, or I am attracted to, t-shirts with stripes.
   Today I will honour beautiful thoughts of my mother by wearing a striped shirt and remembering all those colourful and long-lasting memories.
   This is my way, today, of creating a Happy Mother’s Day.

05/14/2023                                                                                                                                        j.g.l.