I’m dedicating this blog post to the amazing mothers I know, starting with my own.

Every fall when I was a child my mother and I waited for the aspens to turn into tiny golden fans trembling in the breeze. Then we drove an hour from Denver into the mountains searching for the perfect spot to gather decorative branches that would be sprayed with fixative so that they would last the year in vases around the house.

Sometimes we’d stop at an old mine and dig through the mine trailings while she told me what each rock was. We’d go home with rocks and branches filling the trunk of the car. From her I learned to love the mountains, the rocks, and the trees.

She also encouraged me in my writing, tirelessly introducing me to every published author she could wrangle an invitation to. My mother is fearless when it comes to talking to strangers. She still introduces me to published authors. Sometimes I think she’s hoping that they will sprinkle publication fairie dust all over my head. Which, I’m totally down for.

I wouldn’t be the writer I am today without my mother’s encouragement. Thanks, Mom! I hope you have a very happy Mother’s Day.

To my sister who has done an amazing job bringing up her daughters with creativity and intelligence despite more than her fair share of difficulties, Happy Mother’s Day.

To my other friends who are struggling with writing while home-schooling in these crazy days, I admire you and am cheering you on from my quiet, childfree house. I wish I could give you a tiny office you could go to whenever you wanted to write or do art.  I see your struggles and your triumphs despite them. Happy Mother’s Day.

To those of you who miss your mother today, either because of death or because we are all socially-isolated, I send you my good wishes and virtual hugs.

Be well, friends. Happy Mother’s Day!