A memory of a special moment with your mom
1 4"x6" index card
1 photo of your mom, preferably with you
20 minutes
Looking for a unique and low-cost gift for Mom? Here's something that you can do yourself that won't take long or cost a lot of money and will mean the world to her. Better yet, it will become a family keepsake for generations to come.
A Gift From the Heart for
Mother's Day
Your Life & Times by Barbara Cooley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License
© 2011 Your Life & Times. All Rights Reserved.
Think back through your life - perhaps to childhood - and recall a moment with your mom that was special in some way or that has stayed with you throughout the years. Perhaps it was when you were sick and she sat at your bedside stroking your hair or maybe it was a rainy day when she helped you turn the dining room chairs upside down and drape them with a blanket to create a "fort." It might have even been the time you confessed to doing something wrong and after she scolded you she pulled you in for a big hug that made everything okay again. Later in life it might have been your graduation day when you realized what she had sacrificed for you to go to college. Maybe it was her staying with your own children when you had to work and couldn't afford a sitter or day care.
Once you've decided on the memory, take your index card (or note card or blank piece of 8.5"x11" paper - it doesn't matter) and handwrite the memory and your feelings about it. Did it make you feel loved and nurtured, cared for, strong, invincible, special? Did it teach you about forgiveness, integrity, courage, creativity or what it means to be family? Have you modeled your own parenting after how she raised you? Be specific in how the experience affected you, beyond just "it meant a lot."
Don't worry about the quality of your writing or anything else that will stop the flow of the memory and the feelings. Spelling, sentence structure, and grammar are not essential to creating this priceless gift. Communicating honestly and with feeling is what counts.
Now select a photo of your mom or you - or preferably one of the two of you - and scan it and print a copy to include with your memory. If you remember the date, place, or location that's great: write them down, as well as your full name and that of your mother. Insert in an envelope and give it to her on Mother's Day with a single flower or a single piece of her favorite gourmet chocolate. Then as she reads it, watch her eyes fill with tears of love, pride and gratitude. You'll never be able to top this gift.
Is Your Mom No Longer With You?
Feeling sad because you no longer have your mom? Why not do the same exercise anyway and tuck it away with your important family papers. Then take a single flower to her gravesite or to a favorite spot or even to a stranger in a nursing home and leave it there in honor of her memory?
What Do You Give to the Mom Who Has Everything?
Does your mom have everything she could possibly want or need or does she insist that she doesn't want any gifts at all. Have you used up all of your creative and unique gift ideas and you're wondering what you can do for her to truly express how you feel?
A Special Gift
How about the gift of your favorite memory of a special moment with Mom? Here's all you need:
Madelyn Springer and daughter, Barbara Cooley, on Mother's Day in 2003.
Sign up for one of our unique workshops to learn more ways to express your love of family and to preserve those special moments. Click here to learn more.
