Sunday, May 10th, Mothers Day. To say it in this moments may be a bit emotional for some, I know it is for me. A celebration held very dear in the hearts of every latino family, much more so in Puerto Rico.
“Mothers day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society… The modern Mother’s Day began in the United States, at the initiative of Anna Jarvis in the early 20th century… Founder Jarvis herself regretted this commercialism and expressed views on how that was never her intention.” – Wikipedia
I do not know if it is our catholic background, the Taino’s culture in us, or what exactly, that produces an immense love for our mothers in Puerto Rico. Our fathers fight with us over how we have to respect our mothers more than anything else. Ever since we are born we are taught the value a mother has in our daily lives and how there is nothing more important in this world than them. We would not be able to survive without them.
We fight with our mothers, we immaturely lash out at them, but it ends up hurting us more than it hurts them. I do not know how they handle it, the hard work, the DAILY work, and always staying strong no matter what. They sacrifice so much and say so little. It is a full-time job, even though the good ones never say it is a job. And, we know that many places celebrate in many ways and in different days, but here in Puerto Rico we follow the tradition of the modern Mother’s Day due to the influence of American Colonialism. If it were any other celebration we would break it down for you and how the mix of culture goes into it all. But, honestly, this is for our mothers and we hope you find a way to celebrate and honor them this special day or the day in which you celebrate mother’s appreciation.
In Puerto Rico, we not only celebrate our own mothers, we celebrate our sisters who have become mothers, we celebrate our grandmothers, if our aunt has children we celebrate her too, it is a whole family kind of celebration. This spring season will be difficult. We have a worldwide situation that has paused our lives for the moment and we must look for a way to celebrate. I am lucky as I am currently staying with my parents through this, we support each other. We may not show it most of the time, but it is one of the biggest, huge actually, love. Roberto, he is a risk taker also, and regularly goes to check up on his mother during this times, but I think she checks up on him a lot more in those visits. You can already know that we love our mothers and we would risk anything to see them.
Here at West Side Destination, we choose to celebrate with them, breaking curfew, breaking social distancing and embracing our Puerto Rican culture which requires mothers above all else. This is a short testimony of the love for our mothers and the absolute sentiment of fullness that they bring to our hearts. We admire them and we celebrate all their hardships, and believe me, Roberto and I are not easy to be handled. Clara and Sonia deserve everything and more for all they have done for us and always supporting us in every crazy adventure that we take. They might scare easily with our care but they do not scare easily to protect us and to love us.
As part of our gift, we would like to shout it to the world, and have everyone know, WE LOVE YOU MOM! AND WE THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE FOR US AND EVERYTHING THAT WE KNOW YOU WILL NEVER STOP DOING FOR US!!