David and I had no plans for celebrating Mother’s Day. We knew it wouldn’t be like other years, when John or son John $ would build a charcoal fire and I would prepare the rest of the meal. One John is now in heaven, and the other living on the West coast. David needed to go to church early and planned to stay late, and I stayed home with an ailing dog. David had a great idea, that he’d come home after shopping at Aldi’s, and we’d run to Walmart to get something for the dog and pick up a prepared meal. We chose subways, a foot-long sandwich for him and half that for me. For dessert we bought a small cheesecake with four flavors. No muss, no fuss, and we enjoyed eating on the porch with the dog for company.

The day began with greetings from my three children — a text from Kate in New Jersey and quick phone calls from $ and Lise in Denmark. Lise had a big afternoon/evening planned, and $ and Rose were heading out for a 10-mile hike with dog Sadie.

Hours later Rose sent photos of them from Idaho, as well as lovely landscapes with wildflowers and blue, blue water.

It had been a satisfying, pleasant day for all of us.