Last weekend I traveled home to Atlanta to spend Mother’s Day with my mom. We had wonderful weekend together filled with lots of quality time and shopping (what lady doesn’t enjoy a little shopping)!
I also hosted a luncheon on Saturday at Horseradish Grill for a group a special ladies I call my village moms and my mommy! I call them my village moms after the African Proverb “it take’s a village to raise a child.” I grew up in a single parent home and received extra nourishing, love, hard love and support from my village and as an adult I have learned to treasure the WISDOM that my village moms provide. I have a different relationship with each of the ladies and yet they always seem to connect with me at the right place and right time.
My grandmother Easter always tells me to “give her her flowers while she is living.” My intent with the Village Moms Mother’s Day Luncheon was to give these special ladies their flowers and to let them know how much I value and appreciate having them in my life. I gave each of the ladies a blessing bracelet. The blessing bracelets contain four pearls and wearers are instructed to acknowledge one blessing in their life for each pearl on the bracelet. Since these ladies have been a huge blessing to my life I thought it was the perfect Mother’s Day gift!
Me, my mom and my “village moms”
Here’s a little video from our luncheon (click the link below).
I can’t think of a better way to seize Mother’s Day than by honoring and celebrating my AMAZING mommy and the WONDERFUL village moms I’ve been blessed with!
Carpe Diem
Jasmine, this is so beautiful and touching! I first found your blog by finding your twitter (what a story LOL) by reading something you tweeted to Oprah (she has been a mentor-I’ve-never-met). Anyway, I follow Oprah’s tweets and you replied to one of them with something so heartwarming, I looked at your own twitter page and started following you.
Your carpe diem site is as warming as your tweets. I just read your Mother’s Day Revisited entry, and I completely understand what you mean by your inspiration behind Iyanla’s “Give them flowers while they’re still here.” Shortly after I turned 20, it was like every year I was losing a family member. My father one year, my grandfather another, and then a woman who had been like a grandmother to me since I was 2. Thankfully, it only took my dad’s passing to understand how life holds no promises and I was able to apply that lesson. Sure, I’ve always heard how “Today might be your last,” but it didn’t resonate until having experienced how final someone’s passing is.
I learned that it’s not about today possibly being *my* last, but it’s about today possibly being my last with [anyone’s name]. So, it’s not about “I wish I had gone to Paris” — that’s for me to think about if I am blessed enough to be present in tomorrow. It’s about if either I or [name] are not here tomorrow, am I comfortable with how I’ve left today with him/her? This really changes the way I appreciate interactions with people that I might otherwise view as ‘routine.’
I really related to the perspective you shared in your blog entry, so I wanted to return the favor of sharing as well. 🙂 Have a great day!
Andis!
Thank you for sharing! Life can change for the good (and or the bad) in a blink of an eye. I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog too. You’ll have to say hello to me in the “twitterverse” one of these days. Have a WONDERFUL day!
Carpe Diem,
Jasmine
What a wonderful story….Your mother must be proud. Thanks for sharing
You are truly blessed and Jan is truly blessed to have you as a daughter!
Hi Ms. Briscoe!
I am truly blessed. I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog for automatic updates.
Carpe Diem,
Jasmine