My name is Luke Boettger, and I am one of the newest inhabitants of this great country of Sweden. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m engaged to Victoria Stenstrand and we’re getting married in three weeks! Right now life is moving quickly - ten days ago I made the journey from my home in Canada, crossing the Atlantic to my new home here in Sweden, and I am extremely excited for all that’s ahead.
I have the privilege of writing a blog for my very soon to be mother-in-law on the topic of mother’s day.
Mother’s day is this Sunday and in Canada that would mean that children and husbands would be scrambling to stores to get a mother’s day gift or card of some sort so that when mom wakes up on Sunday morning she’s happy. Because we all know that “if mom ‘aint happy, nobody’s happy”.
All joking aside, mother’s day really is an awesome holiday, and it’s really an important holiday. It’s not something that should be forgotten about or belittled. I think the greatest thing about mother’s day is that it’s an opportunity. Mother’s day is a chance to honour all of the mother figures in our lives, whether that be our own mothers, our grandmothers, mothers we know, people who have been like mothers to us, mothers-in-law - the list goes on. Mothers are extremely worthy of some recognition, and mother’s day is a time to give it.
When I think about how much my own mother has done for me I find it amazing. I mean, she gave birth to me, raised me and fed me and clothed me, she washed me, she drove me to school everyday, she made my lunches, she worked long and hard to make money so that I could have the things that I wanted, and in recent years she let me go to Australia as an eighteen year old kid, and I stayed there for three years, and even more recently she supported me when I told her that I was going to move to Sweden. I feel that my mother is the complete definition of selflessness and love, and just knowing that she’s always there for me is incredible. As far as I’m concerned, my mother deserves a mother’s day every single day. But since that doesn’t happen, the least that I can do is take the opportunity of the mother’s day holiday to show my mom gratitude and gratefulness for all that she’s done for me.
Motherhood is something to be celebrated! The influence of a mother on a child is immense. Why not take some time to reflect on your own mother or mother figure in your life, and consider all that they have done for you. Go ahead, do that right now.
It’s pretty amazing isn’t it? It’s incredible to think of the sacrifices they’ve made and the love they’ve shown. There are many lessons that can be learned from the life of a mother: humility, selflessness, joy, understanding, patience, trust, faith... Mothers are a display of them all. And mother’s day is a time to honour such a display.
This mother’s day, take the opportunity. Don’t miss out. Celebrate motherhood with a mother that you know. Show them the love and the kindness that they show everyday to the children they raise. It doesn’t have to be an overly elaborate thing - it doesn’t have to be complicated. Mothers are worth it and mothers deserve it.
To my own mother and to all the mothers out there, happy mother’s day and thank you for all that you do - life would not happen without you, and the life that does happen because of you is filled with love and joy and happiness.
Luke Boettger