mother's day!

Mama at Thanksgiving, October 2009.

Mama at my age. She has shared so much with me, but didn't pass along the prettiness genes to me, alas!

Mama at age 4 or 5, with one of her many kittens named Tiger.

Happy Mother's Day to my mama -- she is the reason why I love language and words, why I travel, why I have the resolve to do what I do. She is the reason I want to be giving and generous, the reason I want to not only learn but teach. She is kind and tough and gentle, and I am so proud of her for all she has accomplished, for all of her perseverance and quiet resolve. She has helped shape my ethical and philosophical development, esp. the feminist and altruistic elements, for which I am deeply grateful. I immensely admire her resilience and her selflessness more than I can properly express, and I wouldn't know what to do without her strength and her support.

Mama, I am proud of you, and I know your own mama is too. Not to mention our horde of resourceful, brave and rabble-rousing ancestors -- from what you have taught me about them, you embody all that they aspired to, all they qualities they held so dear: resourcefulness, endurance, independence and the ability to always look forward, and cultivate hope.