Is There Mother’s Day in Heaven?

May 2010. My first Mother’s Day without my mama. My thoughts then – and now, seven years later.

It’s a lovely morning. Sun filtering through the treetops, birds singing, and flowers lending fragrance to a day in celebration of mothers. I find myself wondering: do they celebrate Mother’s Day in Heaven?

A pair of bluebirds has built a nest in the birdhouse outside the office window. I watch them and wonder what is happening inside the nest they built together. Mama Bluebird is possessive of her nest, her house, and her babies. And I wonder, is there Mother’s Day in Heaven?

The stray cat that showed up at our door a year ago has grown up. Because she has a crook near the tip of her tail, she was dubbed Crooked but is affectionately called Crook. Her kittens were born a week ago, and Crook has hidden them well. The other felines at our house move out of the way when she comes to feed, for motherhood takes precedence even among their kind. I watch Crook, and I ponder, do they celebrate Mother’s Day in Heaven?

Out in the pasture, the new cinnamon-colored calf frolics among the blossoming blackberry bushes. Izzy, her mother, guards her fiercely, and not even Roscoe, the bull or the other pregnant cow will attempt to interfere. She gives her commands in low mooing sounds. The calf listens, for, after all, Izzy is her mother. And I find myself wondering, do they celebrate Mother’s Day in Heaven?

All around me, there is new life and birth – and mothers with their offspring. Year follows year, day follows day, and season follows season. Every May, we celebrate Mother’s Day. And I question: do they celebrate Mother’s Day in Heaven?

Mothers give birth and nurture their young. Children grow up, spread their wings, then leave the nest. My sisters and I grew up and moved away from time to time. Some of us got married, had our own babies, and then brought them home for our mother to see, hold, and cuddle. We celebrated Mother’s Days together.

Mama was always there, ready for us to come home. Now I find myself wondering, do they celebrate Mother’s Day in Heaven?

One wintry day seven Januarys ago, Mama changed her address from home in Grantsville, Maryland, to Home in Heaven. We said “Auf Wiedersehen!” and buried her between her two husbands in the Maple Glen Mennonite church cemetery. A chapter closed in our lives, and we began a new one. And I wonder, do they celebrate Mother’s Day in Heaven?

Winter closed its doors, and year after year, spring peeked in slowly, then decided to stay.

Now it is May. Ah, yes, the month of Mother’s Day.

Again this May, I have not gone to the store to buy a card or written my own verse inside a blank card, even though it’s Mother’s Day. There has been no gift to purchase, no quick phone call to a sibling for a suggestion of what to get for Mama, and no flowers ordered and sent. There will be no phone call on Mother’s Day to wish her “Happy Mother’s Day”.

And I wonder, do they celebrate Mother’s Day in Heaven?