Very, Very Short Mother's Day Stories
One of the things all humans have in common is this: everyone has a mother. There are loving mothers and angry mothers, artistic mothers and good cook mothers. We all know about neglectful mothers or possessive mothers, inspirational mothers. hovering mothers. happy mothers. unhappy mothers. funny mothers. sexy mothers. mothers who lived a long time or were cut down in their prime.
We challenged YourLifeIsATrip.com writers to tell us their Mother's Day tales in 25 words or less. But don’t let the small size fool you — at the heart of each of these very very short essays is a powerful story. So this is our gift to you--some very very short stories from the YourLifeIsATrip.com family.
Mommy sandwich. Photo by Theresa Martell via flickr CCL.
1. Fragrances of Chanel No. 5 and face powder remind me of my friends' mothers. The smell of bleach reminds me of mine. - Maureen Magee
2. Loving, supportive, wise, funny -- my mother, who never graduated college, started teaching psychology courses at a community college in her 70's. That was the kind of person she was. - Fyllis Hockman
3. Mother is gone. But she left behind the stories of all the mothers who shaped us...to read, to question, to explore. Our stories. - Vera Marie Badertscher
4. Daughters marry; mothers gain a son. Sons marry; mothers lose him,” announced Meta. But when her son married me, she kept him and gained a daughter. - Andy Gross
5. My mother hit me. I cried.
“Why are you crying?” she asked.
“You hit me and it hurts.”
“I did not,” she yelled. “It’s your imagination."
6. Mom was 78, widowed, and smitten with Robert. Blushing, she confessed: “The elevator was impossible! – it was already morning – so I snuck down the stairs!” - Carolyn Miller
7. Pieces of Advice from My Mom:
Eat all that and you'll be thick!
Do it in one swell foop.
Me thinks you think too much.
8. Easy to blame. Forgiven even before it's earned. Doing her best. Here to teach me the lessons I need to learn. Love and Gratitude. - Ellen Barone
9. "Mother", "Mom", "Mommy"..... We loved, honored, and respected her. She is missed, but how lucky we were to have had her in our lives! - Connie Hand
10. Younger, I was the sun, my mother an orbiting planet. Now her life in Vienna and flight from the Nazis preoccupy me, my work. I wish she knew. - Edie Jarolim
11. If a mother had an emotionally or physically abusive or traumatic childhood and she does not deal with it and transform it, she will certainly transmit it. - Judith Fein
12. Functional family!? Mom; fearful and cold. Sister; folie a deux. Father; imploded. I escaped …almost. She died but didn't live. No immortality there. - Paul Ross
13. Things my mother left me:
silver, pearls, gold,
unfulfilled promises,
all the love she had
great hostess skills
love and appreciation for my own children.
14. Soft summer nights in Mom's convertible - to the next town over for ice cream. Ducking below the wind with wild rose scent on the air. - Jean Kepler Ross
15. At 45, she graduated and began teaching. She saved her paychecks for a swimming pool but instead sent me and my brother to Europe. - Robert Turkington
16. “Oops!” Mother tripped as she tried the airport escalator for the first time. She grinned down at me, five, and said, “That’s why we explore.” - Atreyee Gupta
17. The night my mother, my one and only mother, died, I, far away, looked up, and said, “You were the best Mom I ever had.” - B.J. Stolbov
18. After an African mission, an unmarried woman came home pregnant. Mom made sure the church gave her the same baby shower it gave others mothers. - Kristine Mietzner
19. In different corners of the world, before email, I’d search out a pay phone. Only one voice I wanted to hear. “Hello?” “Hi mom.” - Lori Marquardson
20. Matka, mOm, maTaji, aHm, muttEr, madRe: MOTHER. Your unconditional LOVE gifted me with Life, an Open mind, Values, and Empathy. Thank you. - Jolandi Steven
21. The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife:
“What of my children three?”
“One, a selkie on the sea.
Child two, a taniwha.
Third, a teller of tails.”
Mum smiled all briny white.
22. My mother hated Mother's Day but that doesn't mean she didn't want me to give her a plant on that day. - Rachel Dickinson
23. I’ve been pooped, peed, and thrown-up on. I’ve lost sleep, patience, and my sanity. Then I hear you giggle and I know you’re worth everything. - Jessica Lynn
What about you? We'd love to have you join the fun. Use the comment box below to share your 25-word very short, short Mother's Day story. It can be crazy, funny, scary, surprising, meaningful, disastrous—whatever you want to say.
6 Comments | Editors | Email Article | Share Article | Print Article | Permalink tagged 25-word essays, mother's day, short stories Mother's Day, life 
Reader Comments (6)
My mother's world was boundless. She explore it endlessly, reveled in its mystery and defined it for others. They either worshiped her or feared her.
She sounds extraordinary, Charnell.
Thanks for bringing her so vividly alive for us in so few words.
Ellen & Judie
Co-founders, YourLifeIsATrip.com
She didn’t want five kids. Pictures don’t lie. From a place of fear and resentment, mom parented us. I learned mothers are not always maternal.
My Mother used to sing to me and then one day she stopped. Her unresolved angst was my legacy, as was her love and passion.
Clean up your room!
Wait til Dad gets home!
If you get pregnant, don't come to me!
Who are you? When are we going home?
Sharon, Sascha and Nancy, thanks for joining the fun and sharing your stories!
It's amazing how much can be told in so few words.
With gratitude,
Ellen & Judie