A Mother's Wish

When your children are little it's hard to imagine you'll some day celebrate holidays without them. The upper grades of elementary school bring a cessation of cute cards and strange ceramic offerings handmade by your child. From then it's just a quick leap until they leave home for college, and holidays like Mother's Days are spent cramming for finals instead of honoring mothers. Nora hadn't been home for a few Mother's Days but thanks to Paul she was heading home this weekend. Her arrival was my 2009 Mother's Day surprise.

Unfortunately Mother Nature intervened. Uncertain of what would be happening with the Santa Barbara fire and knowing that Paul's job would keep him busy this weekend, we encouraged her to go visit her boyfriend, Eric, in Orange County instead of trying to come home. We were all disappointed.

But then we got lucky. The fire calmed down, it was determined that Paul's work on Sunday morning could be accomplished on his Blackberry, and Nora and Eric were willing to drive north to meet us in Ventura for brunch at a harbor restaurant. Bliss. A Mother's Day dream fulfilled.