Great Mother's Day gifts come right from the heart

Mother's Day, by American calculations, commemorated its 100th anniversary Sunday -- obviously with as many ways to remember moms as there are children.

Many years ago, my two younger brothers came up with the idea to plant perennials around the flag pole and in the garden plots at my parents' house on Mother's Day. This year, for the first time in my memory, it rained.

On the flip side, I downplay my own expectations for the second Sunday in May.

No special gifts are requested at my house.

As the lyrics in one of my favorite Barbra Streisand songs suggest, "The best gift that I ever got didn't really weigh a lot … a gift that simply drove me wild was a tiny, newborn child."

I became a first-time mother 10½ weeks early when our daughter was born prematurely. Her fight for survival put motherhood in perspective for me.

As our family grew, I hoped our three children would learn that every day is a time for grace, love and respect for all the people in their lives. Throw in good health and a sense of humor, and maybe we'd coexist better in this imperfect world.

So life goes on. And in a free world of individual choices, I marked my 29th Mother's Day reminiscing about our challenges through thick and thin, twists and turns -- and especially the voice mails that sign off with a spontaneous, "I love you, Mom."

Moved by others

Last week I also found myself moved by the musical gifts of other mothers' children.

Thursday I attended the final parent meeting for the Warriors Reaching Out Stewardship Program at Waubonsie Valley High School. I've enjoyed following the cultural exchange leading up to their trip in June to Cape Town, South Africa, framed around the diverse Mosaic Choir Ensemble, inspired and directed by Mark Myers.

After listening to the students sing, Vice Principal Joy Ross recapped events of the past 11 months, an amazing journey all by itself.

The emotional evening of shared experiences came full circle when Myers chronicled how he'd found his way from a small Indiana town to Waubonsie Valley. His story included his grandmother's recent revelations after she'd attended a performance of the blended voices and multicultural music of the Mosaic Choir.

I couldn't help but think how Warriors Reaching Out builds understanding right here in our country, too.

Then, on Friday, I sat in on a rehearsal by The New Epidemic. This talented group of musicians from Gregory Middle School -- Richard Kasbee, Richie McCarthy, Rick Razzano, Ryan Hutt and Conner O'Gorman -- will be playing in the Teenage Band Showcase at Naper Days on Father's Day.

After they'd played a couple of "cover" songs, I asked if they'd written any original music.

"My grandmother passed last year, so we wrote this song," O'Gorman said.

And the five young musicians performed a loving tribute titled "My Everything."

If you want to have faith in our future, listen to their sweet music.

Comic relief

Friday afternoon, I opened an e-mail from my youngest child.

Since November, Jeff, now 24, has been living in Seoul, Korea, teaching English at a private school.

Recently, this avid Cubs fan wrote about his first baseball game in Korea, where instead of hot dogs they served fried squid.

Jeff loves sushi. He introduced me to platters with different varieties of picturesque sushi at Moshi Moshi in downtown Naperville.

One evening before he left, he called me to his computer. While searching for Korean sushi, he found online videos titled "eating live baby octopus," featuring families and friends enjoying the healthful novelty.

If you get squeamish, read no further.

"Hey, Mom, I am going hiking in Seoraksan, a national park, for a couple days, so in case I'm not back ... Happy Mother's Day," he wrote Friday.

"... It's now 5 a.m. I'm catching a bus in about an hour. I have a three-day weekend because Buddha's birthday is Monday," he explained.

"… Last weekend I went to Seoul's big fish market and enjoyed some live octopus at one of its surrounding restaurants ... The wiggling tentacles weren't hard to get down with some sauce, but the head took some effort. Happy Mother's Day!"

That's my boy! What a gift.

Stephanie Penick writes about Naperville -- and sometimes Korea -- on Tuesdays in Neighbor. Contact her at spennydh@aol.com.