I had my first really good Mother's Day in quite some time. It was a day primarily dedicated to the celebration of motherhood. It has become a tradition in this household to celebrate mother's day by inviting my mother-in-law over for lunch at our home to join us and our children. Afterward, we traditionally drive to my parents' home to celebrate with my mother. In recent years, we've added atmosphere by also inviting my brother-in-law and his wife to join us for lunch. This year, we weren't sure if everyone would be able to attend. Our children have all moved away from home, and have lives of their own. So, it was wonderful to see that both of the children who live in town indicated they would be able to attend. It was unfortunate that our out-of-town daughter would not be able to make it over.

What really added to the day was the unexpected arrival of my wife's other brother. He normally does not accept invitations to our home (it's not a feud, but there are issues I won't deal with here). He had shown up unannounced, about an hour before the other guests were scheduled to arrive. He had been visiting town (he lives about 45 minutes away) and said he wanted to give a mother's day card to his mom and knew she would be over our house after church. So, he decided to come over to see her. I had not been prepared for a visitor. There were things I had to do before everyone came back home from church - things like shaving (I shave only when I absolutely have to), and dressing, and making Mother's Day cards for my wife and mother. After spending some time with him, I sat him down in front of the TV and excused myself to go get ready. I had expected the other guests to arrive home before my wife, since she had to go out of her way to pick up her son and get the food. Despite all this, she still arrived home first, and was so pleasantly surprised by her brother's presence, you could tell it really made her day. She knew that all the children would be their for her mother's enjoyment.

When my mother-in-law walked through the door, my wife said "We have a surprise for you", and then our "uninvited guest" came out of hiding. I wish I was eloquent enough to describe the look on her face. It's been at least 14 years since she's celebrated mother's day with all her children being there at the same time. I think he sensed it too, because instead of simply giving her the card and going home (as he had told me he would do), he decided to join us for lunch. Lunch was a real hoot. My step-daughter came with her 3-year-old daughter, and my step-son arrived sporting an additional lip piercing. Our dogs were overjoyed to see so many guests (they seemed to know the potential for a feast of floor-droppings was not too far off), and as usual, our grand-daughter was in the finest form - providing entertainment for everyone present.

After the meal, it was time to open cards. When the guests (representing four generations) had arrived, all their cards had been deposited into a single pile. Now it was time to sort them all out. Each card in the pile was addressed to "mom" or "grandma", and it was delightful having to figure out who contributed each particular card to the pile - for such identification was necessary to know who the intended recipient should be. My step-children have reached the age where appreciation for past parental deeds has begun to penetrate their consciousness. The messages on those cards was touching and very personal. My wife was brought nearly to tears reading them. And I think she was particularly moved by a card from her granddaughter - complete with signature that was the product of her own hand - skillfully guided by her own mommy's. My mother-in-law was equally moved by the sentiments expressed to her, and once again seemed overwhelmed that all her children had shown up to celebrate her day.

The entire afternoon's festivities had taken the better part of three hours, and afterward, my mother-in-law, her "surprise" visitor, and my step-children decided to leave. Remaining behind was my wife's other brother and his wife. They are frequent visitors to our home and we share a passion for films and high-end home theatre systems. We each have a special video screening room in our homes, and we alternate movie nights at each other's homes. Yesterday, they decided to bring a selection of DVD's over in case we had time after the meal to view a movie. We settled on the movie Musketeer, because none of us had seen it; and we spent the remainder of the afternoon viewing the film and eating far too much of my sister-in-law's exquisite desserts. I always hate to say goodbye to my brother- and sister-in-law, because we always have such good times together; but it was mother's day, and I still hadn't visited my own mother.

It was after 6:00PM already, so my wife and I grabbed dinner before heading out to my parents' house. When we arrived, we were surprised to learn that my sister, who also lives in town, had not yet visited. My other sister, who lives out of town, had called the previous day. In addition to my mother's day card, I had remembered to bring a gift that I had been saving for my mother for nearly five months. It hadn't been intended as a mother's day gift. In fact, back in December, I told my mother about it. At the time, my parents were spending the winter down south, and when they returned late last month, I had forgotten to bring it with me when I picked them up at the airport. So, mother's day was just the second time I had seen her since her return. The gift was an autographed picture from Peggy Fleming, the Olympic Skating gold medalist from the 1968 Winter Games. She was to be the guest of honour at a kick-off event for the Salt Lake City Olympics funding drive, and I happened to be visiting the building where she was to sign autographs. When I found out she would be there, I decided to wait in line for over an hour to get a personalized autograph for my mother - an avid ice skating fan. While my wife and I were visiting my parents, my sister and her husband arrived. So the six of us spend a while talking, laughing, reminiscing, and celebrating my mother's special day. Around 8:30PM, as I was getting the urge to leave, my other sister (who had already called the day before) called again. She got to talk with mom, my sister, and my wife.

After a brief chat, we left to go home - to go back to our routine for Sunday evenings. But not before we had experienced one of the best Mother's Days in a long time.

I hope everyone else's Mother's Day was special.