Up Close and Personal: 2 Moms and Me

On Mother’s Day, buy her a gift, present her with flowers, treat her to a meal, but best of all, tell her how much she has meant in your life. 

On Mother's Day, buy her a gift, present her with flowers, treat her to a meal, but best of all, tell her how much she has meant in your life. Evgeny Atamanenko/Shutterstock

Not long after my wife died in 2004 at age 52, a friend walked into my bookstore, and we struck up a conversation. Nearby, my 9-year-old boy, our youngest of four children, sat reading a book. My friend and I spoke for several minutes, and then she gestured to my son.

“I guess you’ll have to be Mom and Dad to him now,” she said.