Of Mother’s Day and sacrifices

Our mother goose on Mother's Day 2025. Five eggs in the nest and she's forgoing brunch to tend them.

There is a mother goose nesting along the pond shore behind our house.

I wake each morning and immediately check on her.

Sitting on her nest enduring pouring rain.

Plucking her own feathers to insulate the eggs.

Standing, stretching her legs and wings. Sitting back down on five eggs carefully arranged so they are near the pond’s water but far enough away so they aren’t in danger.

Last night, I dreamed about her. In the dream, our mother goose let me close enough to pet her and compliment her mothering skills.

It was a fanciful, Disney princess kind of dream because I know she would rather peck my eyes out to protect her young than let me anywhere near that nest.

She’s already a great mom, though.

Last week, another pair of geese with six of their own goslings started harassing our mother goose.

First, the male goose chased her from the nest.

Then, he started pecking at her eggs.

I was so worried he would crack one, I chased him away with a Swiffer Sweeper wand. This is after I had to brandish some patio furniture to keep him from attacking me. Note: I’m sure the neighbors think I’m the crazy woman on the block with a penchant for harassing wildlife with household goods. I don’t care.

For the past several weeks, our mother goose has been nothing but doting and dutiful. Her dedication to establishing the nest, laying her eggs, and tending it all in the face of marauding raccoons and bullying geese has touched me enough to apparently gain access to my subconscious state.

It reminds me of the countless sacrifices my own mother made for my brother and me:

• She worked as a telemarketer.

• She cleaned swimming pools.

• She recycled aluminum cans from the side of the road.

• She baked her own bread.

• She cruised the nearby sugar beet factory and picked up any discards to use at home.

• She tended a garden of tomatoes, corn, and green beans.

• She drove a Winnebago and horse trailer across the country so we could show horses.

• She meticulously steamed the wrinkles from my wedding gown.

• And, she slept in the same bed with me the night before my wedding because I had a scorching sinus infection and was so nervous my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

That list is by no means all of the sacrifices she has made. To list them all is impossible.

A daily rose update from my mom's flip phone.

Today, Mother’s Day 2025, I asked my mom if she wanted to go to lunch or shopping or something.

She replied: ‘No. Stay home. Play with your puppies and watch over mother goose.’

So, I sent her some roses instead. In return she’s sending me daily photos showing how they are blooming and opening up with pictures taken by her flip phone. Note: Yes. She still uses a flip phone. It’s another sacrifice of sorts. It’s not as expensive as ‘those fancy iPhones,’ she says. I will play with Luka and Layla today. I will watch over mother goose today.

Everyone should be so lucky to have a mother as patient, protective, and proud as her.