"You're Not a Mother Yet!"

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Some eleven years ago my wife Becca and I entered a church on a fine Sunday morning. It was Mother's Day, and the local K of C were passing out carnations to all the moms. It was sort of a big moment for us. You see, Becca was obviously pregnant. There was no hiding the fact. It was her first Mother's Day as a mother.

We approached the man passing out flowers in the back foyer. I asked for a carnation for Becca. The man looked at Becca, at me, and then back at Becca, before shouting, "You're not a mother yet!"

No carnation for Becca.

Whatever. This man was a nut, and certainly didn't represent the church we were attending. The blame is on him. I can imagine this man as the Gospel is read by a priest: 

A pregnant Elizabeth comments to the pregnant Mary, "Why am I so honoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

The man shouts out from the pew: "She's not a mother YET!"

Never mind. 

We are approaching another Mother's Day. This time my wife is looking very pregnant again. She'll also have another four children in tow with her at Mass this weekend. She is a mother, just as she was eleven years ago.

I guess the real moral of the story is: don't leave it to others to buy flowers for your wife.



Cover photo credit: Keith Dotson




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Millette is a husband, father, educator, and author of Disconnected: The Broken Path, now available on Amazon.


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