MYMP (Make Your Mother Proud)

Our dutiful Mother’s Day week-end with our mothers and mother-figures started with a Friday night fund-raising dance. Saturday, we joined the shopping madness at the mall in search for that special gift in exchange for the sacrifice, pain and heartbreak we give our mothers. On Sunday, we prepared two entrees for mothers' day and housewarming party with Hubby's family. I was totally wiped out by early evening that I dozed off through our HBO lineup while Hubby packed for a next day business trip to Washington DC.

In the past, it was difficult for me to go through Mother’s Day without feeling depressed and/or angry for my failure to have a biological child. Many tell me (sincerely I hope, not just out of pity) I would’ve made a great mother. Who knows… it’s really hard to say and I will probably ponder on this all my life. Hubby and I have always enjoyed the children brought into our lives by family and friends to a fault that we spoil them to pieces. We experience the joys of seeing them grow up but unlike their parents, we don't worry about financing their college education.

Click HERE for my usual accompanying photos of our hectic week-end.

The Goddess

Coincidence or not, no one handicapped her wedding to happen on Kentucky derby day even though her love for horse racing is legendary. And no weather report predicted the dark and gloomy morning was an unlikely prelude to a gloriously sunny spring afternoon. Dressed in full regalia and long flowing train, the earth stood still as the Goddess started walking towards a rose-decorated garden arch set in beautiful natural surroundings. The new age music blended with the singing of the birds and the buzzing of the bees. The gentle and cool breeze soothed and swayed the sycamore trees. This quiet corner of a grove next to the building where these two friends first met and worked together became a symbolic gateway to their passage from this day onwards as husband and wife.

Family, close friends and colleagues, still in disbelief, came to witness the profound and mature love expressed throughout a very meaningful ceremony. I, among many others, nursed my heartbreak of losing someone special who will soon be whisked a thousand miles north to start a new life. The sweet acappella song somehow doused my bitter tears, doubts and fears so that when the vows were recited in tender and broken voice, hope and joy finally entered my heart. This Goddess, friend of mine short of ten years, has found happiness at last with a kind and loving soul.

The reception held at the Barranca patio merged the two worlds of the Goddess for an early evening soiree, leading to an elegantly set dinner and ended by a celebration of music and dancing. The toasts bespoke of the world of academia where the Goddess ruled in high esteem while the rites and rituals of the wedding party showed the fun loving world of the Goddess, why other gods and mortals all beseech her company at every chance. It was indeed a bittersweet open-ending with promises of future visits and get-togethers.

Click HERE to view my cherished photos of the Goddess in human flesh on her magical day. I will miss her so terribly, my happy-(and sad)-hour friend, my partner-in-crime and shopping companion.