Loved, Admired, Honored – Happy Mother's Day

For this week’s posting, I was stuck trying to figure out what to write about. Should it be V. Stiviano’s Barbara Walters interview, claiming remorse for throwing her boyfriend/boss, Donald Sterling, under the proverbial bus? Or should it be Monica Lewinsky, blaming her last 20 years of misery on the Clintons?

But then I remembered that it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday, and I thought about the column I wrote last year at this time. Mother’s Day is always somewhat nostalgic for me. At Marcum we are just coming off the stresses of Busy Season and still unwinding from the annual pressures of working around the clock and being in the office more than we are at home. So Mother’s Day is an especially poignant time of year. It’s a reminder of what is most important in life – family.

As we all know, the daily demands of a 24/7 work world can be consuming. It can sometimes be difficult to leave the office where it belongs – at work.

So for my wife, Tracy, and me, Mother’s Day is more than a Hallmark holiday. It’s a time for us to regroup and relish our children and our own mothers, who thankfully are both still with us.

Last year at this time I wrote about Tracy’s family tradition of gathering at the Glen Falls House in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, with the whole gaggle of her sisters, in-laws, nieces and nephews. Well, that’s where we’ll be again this year, appreciating the opportunity to simply enjoy each other’s company and to relish the reunion of three generations. It is one of our favorite traditions, and we are both looking forward to it.

Last year my older children, Isaac & Leo, joined the celebration for the first time. Needless to say, it was a weekend they’ll never forget and cherish always.

With all of the demands on everyone’s time and the competing pressures of daily life, setting aside a whole weekend to reconnect with your family is an opportunity not to be missed. It is a truly special occasion and an experience I would recommend highly. And now that our children are part of the festivities, getting to spend their Mother’s Day weekend with their cousins and a whole posse of relatives, I hope they will continue the tradition themselves with the next generation.

Our five-year-old daughter Lily probably won’t sleep much tonight (as I write this on Thursday evening) in anticipation of the drive tomorrow to spend the weekend with her multitude of aunts, uncles and cousins.

Mother’s Day is one of those feel good holidays. Its roots are not historic or religious, but it is a day that has meaning for everyone. It is the one day we can all reverse roles and treat our mothers the way they treat us all year long. We get to pamper them for a change. So whether it’s breakfast in bed, a bouquet of roses, a nice dinner out or a weekend at the Glen Falls House, Mother’s Day is all about our moms. I’m fortunate to still be able to celebrate with my mother, who turned 81 this year, as is Tracy, whose mother will be with us for the weekend. Sunday afternoon when we get back from upstate, we’ll have dinner with my mother and my sister and her family.

So this week’s posting is a tribute to all of the mothers out there who spend 364 days a year taking care of us. This is our weekend to say thank you for all you do, day in and day out.

Happy Mother’s Day to you all.