In Honor of Mothers

My native state of New Mexico, “The Land Of Enchantment,” is home to the Diné people (also known as “Navajo” or “Navaho”). “Diné “is the preferred term by which they identify themselves, its literal meaning is “the people.” The Diné are traditionally a matrilineal society with descent and inheritance determined through one’s mother. The Diné do not have nieces and nephews; they have sons and daughters. They do not have uncles and aunts; they have fathers and mothers. All children are treated the same as if they are one’s very own. A child’s aunt is a child’s mother. A child’s teacher is a child’s mother. The woman at the counter, in the library, or in the shopping mall is one’s mother. 

This Native American societal view can be extrapolated to the Shorecrest campus where one need not have birthed a child to be a mother. The usual clichés are apt, that motherhood has much to do with nurturing and support, empathy and love, strength and resilience. These qualities are always present here at Shorecrest. 

My wife, Nancy, is a great mother to our son and daughter, but I have also seen her “motherness” in action in other realms. Nancy was a wonderful mother to our dear (and departed) sheepdog Henry: the daily walks, cuddles and tug o’ war. At our previous school, a boarding and day school with high-school aged boarders from around the world, we lived on campus in a school house. I recall times when I would arrive home to find a kitchen full of students, making the world’s most decadent brownies. Nancy directed the operations, mixing bowls here, and baking sheets over there. Or passing her on the street, Nancy is singing aloud with her minivan full of girls, on their way to Starbucks or getting ice cream. In loco parentis takes on a whole new dynamic.

  

Although our experiences of our mothers are individual and unique, I want to also think of motherness as a concept more than a kind of physiological lineage, the qualities that comprise what a mother is; the things she stands for, the sacrifices she makes, the kind of novel and different intelligences she holds–her creativity. The person who mended those skinned knees and taught us how to read, the one who passed on to us our culture: the woman who taught us discipline. 

This Mother’s Day we are grateful for all the wonderful gifts we have received from our mothers, but we should also appreciate the daily minute-to-minute expressions and contributions that come from all women, from their generous, kind, and altruistic motherness. On this Mother’s Day, I observe similarities between Shorecrest and the Diné and I am wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers in our Shorecrest community. 

Amá Bééhániihígíí binahji' (In honor of Mother's Day.)