Each Mother’s Day, I am reminded of just how grateful I am to still be able to celebrate my mom, Gloria Greer. So many of my friends have lost their mothers in the past year, and their losses have made me so thankful for the ability to still call my mom on the phone, get a hug whenever I see her, or receive all of the little gestures of love only a mom knows how to give. This Mother’s Day and for the remainder of the year, I am going to genuinely try to remember just how thankful I am to be able to celebrate my mother.
My dear friends who have lost their mothers this year describe the waves of pain that roll through their entire bodies on any given day. The need and want to be able to pick up the phone and hear a reassuring voice or grab a piece of sage wisdom in between meetings are what many say they miss the most. I am trying to be a listening ear for my dear friends as they embark on this journey of grief, feelings of loss, and even profound feelings of gratitude for the time they had with their mothers.
When I think of my mom, I immediately think of all of the loving aunties and big sisters I also want to celebrate on Mother’s Day. These women have filled me with a sense of confidence and calm as I navigate being a Black woman in this world. It is these women who, along with my mother, have modeled what friendship and sisterhood could and should look like. Not just grand gestures to let someone know you are there, like flying across the country when a friend is in need, but the tiny little ways sister-friends show up by sending a small note or even a glance across the table.
There is something magical about surrounding yourself with powerful women in all facets of ones life, and I have my mother to thank for that. Being secure enough to surround myself with bold and unapologetically brilliant women is a gift from my mother that I am forever grateful for. It is my sincere hope that those reading have warm memories of their mother or mother-like figures in their lives. If not, I do hope we can look to our sister-friends and see the wisdom and guidance they pour into us in a myriad of ways.
This Mother’s Day, I will also take a moment to reflect on the love and wisdom of my late grandmother Lillian McCray, who was wise well beyond her years. For all of the mothers and grandmothers reading this, I am wishing you the best Mother’s Day to date.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of book “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream” and is co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.