Half of us aren't nearly as grateful as we should be.
My mother's birthday has just rolled by, and it went unnoticed as most days are; it just came and went. Though I suppose there's a reason for that. None of us, not me, not my siblings, appreciated her much, for though she brought us into this world, she did little to make sure we stayed there. I doubt she'd notice even if all eleven of us wound up dead. My friend Meg, on the other hand, has a wonderful mother, who cares for all of her kids, no matter how unusual they may be. (I use unusual in the lightest sense of the word.) And so, every year, I ignore my mother's birthday, just as she ignores me, though I never stop thinking of the mother she could have been.
A very old, very wise person (I don't know who, exactly) said that friends are the family you choose. I happen to have the strangest friends on earth, yet they are the closest family I could dream of having. I suppose, though I am sorely lacking in the maternal department, my three slightly aging friends, who prefer to remain anonymous, are three replacements for my sub-par mother. They really are caring people, albeit old and difficult to communicate with. And I am grateful for the family that I chose.
My mother's birthday has just rolled by, and it went unnoticed as most days are; it just came and went. Though I suppose there's a reason for that. None of us, not me, not my siblings, appreciated her much, for though she brought us into this world, she did little to make sure we stayed there. I doubt she'd notice even if all eleven of us wound up dead. My friend Meg, on the other hand, has a wonderful mother, who cares for all of her kids, no matter how unusual they may be. (I use unusual in the lightest sense of the word.) And so, every year, I ignore my mother's birthday, just as she ignores me, though I never stop thinking of the mother she could have been.
A very old, very wise person (I don't know who, exactly) said that friends are the family you choose. I happen to have the strangest friends on earth, yet they are the closest family I could dream of having. I suppose, though I am sorely lacking in the maternal department, my three slightly aging friends, who prefer to remain anonymous, are three replacements for my sub-par mother. They really are caring people, albeit old and difficult to communicate with. And I am grateful for the family that I chose.
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