A.& I have an agreement -- absolutely no presents for either of us on any occasion though I have to admit, he is the charmer when it comes to the little everyday surprises. Like cupcakes and cookies when he comes home from work. Like softshell crab as my merienda from Keyport Fishery before Mother's Day lunch. Or his unrelenting insistence that I take a few hours for myself once a week while he has dad-daughter time with N. I never know what to gift to my own mother (or mother-in-law) for Mother's Day. What to give to a woman who seems to have everything? For A. & me, it's more about the time shared.
So we spent the weekend following Mother's Day at Lola Auntie & Apong's in Connecticut, otherwise known as Casa El Greco b&b, and Mom joined us. An intimate homemade feast complete with the usual favorites - raw oysters (and pinot grigio), strawberry and mango & tomato salads, salmon sinigang, pampano, ribs, spaghetti & meatballs, and ice cream sundaes. Yum.
With her doting lolas, N. crawled on two layers of comforters spread on wood floors. Every so often, she glanced gleefully at the surrounding sun room windows. Spring raindrops fell ever so peacefully against picturesque oyster gray skies embracing towering trees in the vernal garden bordered by the rivulet my cousins and I spent so many summers sitting at with our twigs, sea green yarn & bread dough balls trying to catch fish. And I, her mama, witnessed her squinty smiling-like-a-clam eyes . . . & fell in love all over again.
