Mothers, Lilacs, and Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

Today, May 11, is Mother's Day in the United States.

It's somewhat a tradition for me to blog about lilacs and roses (or even lilacs and geraniums) on Mother's Day.  It's also Shadowshot Sunday, brought to us by Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventures, and today's photo is of a red azalea I saw yesterday while out walking.

But wait, there's more.  Permit me a walk down Memory Lane.

There are the lilacs in my yard, which share a common border with two neighbors.

When the lilacs bloom, I think of my mother, who passed away in the mid 1960's.  We did not have any lilacs in our yard.  In fact, we did not have a yard.  I grew up in a small apartment in a Bronx (part of New York City) city housing project.

My Mom did what she could.  She grew red geraniums on our most sunny windowsill, and snake plants on another windowsill.

Mom loved a talcum powder called Lilacs and Roses. This was made by a company called Lander, whose address is given as New York City but it's possible some of their products were manufactured in Binghamton, New York, where I worked for many years.  

So we were so happy when we bought a house back in the 1980's here in the Triple Cities of the Southern Tier of New York.  The yard, we discovered, had two lilacs.  This is one of them.  It's so tall now you would need a ladder to cut most of the flowers.  

The neighbors in this house when we moved in next door are both deceased now; one of their daughters now lives in the house after years of it being a rental.  I love that the house is still in their family.

The other neighbor's white lilac has expanded into our yard.  We don't mind at all.

And we planted the light purple lilac above ourselves.  

These are flowers that bring back memories for me.  I owe a lot to my mother, who died when I was 12, and to those in my life that became substitute mother, especially two of my aunts and the mother of my best friend.  May they all rest in peace and I can only hope they are in a place full of flowers and sunshine.

I recognize that today isn't a happy day for all women.  Not all of us knew our Moms at all. Not all of us knew our Moms for that long.  Not all of us had good Moms.  Some of us are young mothers totally exhausted from the duties that come with babies and young children. Some of us struggle to keep our families together.  Today should honor all of us.  

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday, no matter your situation today.