Love Archives - Mothering in the Middle

Honeymoon

by Judith Lee Herbert

At sunset in Bellagio, we sit at the table
by the window, looking out
at mountains studded by shimmering lights.

We eat our four-course Italian meal
smiling at one another, drink red wine,
me, svelte in my turquoise and black dress
with the yellow sash, you handsome
with your dark hair and beard.

Nightfall, we stand on the balcony
holding hands. Under the amber moon,
echo of dogs faint in the distance.

Before dawn we are awakened by
roosters crowing.

We drive through the Alps
high above the earth
surrounded by clouds.

At the Jungfrau, the timelessness of glaciers:
frozen snow, brilliant sun,
our fates a silvery-white light.

Judith Lee Herbert has returned to poetry after a successful career in another field. She graduated Cum Laude in English Literature from Columbia University. She has a daughter who is a sophomore in college, and she lives in New York City, with her husband, who writes plays. She had her daughter while in her 40s.

Love Thy Children, Love the World

by Wendy Sue Noah

Oh, that title sounds LOVE-ly, yes?! But what do I really mean here, besides sharing my hippie (not religious) ‘love thy neighbor as yourself’ mentality?

As a single parent, with no romantic partner for over a decade, Valentine’s Day and the concept of love has taken on an entirely new shape for me – one that is ever more encompassing and one that does not leave me feeling incomplete or resentful for not having a partner to share it with.

It is the kind of love that keeps growing, expanding and revealing itself to me throughout my everyday life. […]

Valentines Schmalentines
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Valentines Schmalentines

Commentary, Daily Living, Midlife Foibles!, Motherhood, Mothers Over 40

Valentines Schmalentines

by Jo-Ann Rogan

Valentine’s Day is a waste of time and I tend not to celebrate it in any meaningful way. I don’t require my husband to bring me gifts or take me out for dinner. Valentine’s Day is about a month and a half from Christmas and exactly a month before our wedding anniversary. We can celebrate love any other time of the year and we won’t have to fight a crowd. We might say “Happy Valentine’s Day” and hug, but the celebration ends there. Usually, for my kids, I plan an experience in the time around Valentine’s Day, like a trip to the indoor water park or another fun event.

I don’t need a holiday for my husband to show me he loves me. He does that when he makes me a cocktail with fresh squeezed juice on Saturday nights after I have served drinks to half of the city for two nights in a row. I feel the love when we stand in the kitchen supposedly cooking but instead we are watching a TV show on the kitchen computer, and he starts to rub my back. […]

The Power of One: Honoring Yourself

by Cyma Shapiro

Last year, in my Huffington Post Valentine’s Day essay, “The Power of One Helps Make a Whole,” I wrote about how important Valentine’s Day is and how I start thinking about the upcoming holiday soon after the last holiday ends! I explained how I spend several months formulating who I’ll send cards to and who I’ll call/see/meet simply to say “I love you” and express my thanks and gratitude for being in my life. […]

Love Is Never Easy

by Maggie Lamond Simone

Courtesy of flashfree.com

Love is never easy. Anybody can tell you that, from the person wondering if he’ll ever find his soul mate, to the long-married couples still facing the daily challenges endemic to living with someone who may or may not share their love of clutter.

Technology has made it much easier in many cases, increasing the opportunities for communication; gone are the days of kissing your spouse goodbye before heading off on a business trip and not speaking for possibly days at a time.

No, today’s world has made it extraordinarily easy to say what we want to say, to whom we want to say it, right now. […]

All You Need is Love!

by Wendy Sue Noah

Dear Reader: This begins the countdown to my most favorite holiday in the world – Valentine’s Day!

Here is the first of seven days of essays designed for the day:

The media permeates us with images of romantic couples, so very happy, with absolutely no problems whatsoever. And, they are going to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a cold refreshing Heineken, because Heineken has linked themselves with love in the air.

As I reach for my cold Heineken, which happens to be one of my favorite beers, I look at my tribe of five with a depth of love I’ve never known before. It’s called Unconditional Love. […]

Interview with Josie Iselin, Author of Heart Stones and Sea Glass Hearts

by Cyma Shapiro

Dear Reader: Heart Stones is my most favorite Valentine’s Day book, ever. I own and have given several of Josie’s books for presents. MitM is honored to feature her, for Valentine’s Day.

Q: Josie, your first book is called Loving Blind/Seeing Red: A Mother’s Decade. It features a series of images with connecting anecdotes about life with small kids which was inspired by your earliest path through motherhood. As the mother of three children, now ranging in age from 15 to 20, they appear to be your driving force, motivation and inspiration. Please tell me more about your journey with them and how it has contributed to your finding your life’s work.

I had my first baby (20 years ago nearly today in fact!) at midwinter break in the second of three years of an MFA program and when done, I thought I would be teaching pretty consistently. But teaching in the arts is initially a transient thing…The reality was that the best economic model for our family was for me to be home with the kids…and it was a gift to us as a family and to me as an artist. My studio is just downstairs (through the backyard) from the kitchen and my work and life are intertwined, physically as well as psychically. My kids and my husband always inspire me to do better work. […]

A Valentine’s Tradition

by Maggie Lamond Simone

Gather ’round, kids. Our very favorite holiday, Valentine’s Day, is fast approaching. It’s the one day we are allowed to blatantly display our love for each other, and every year Auntie Maggie takes particular delight in sharing the special story of this most romantic time. Yes, Auntie Maggie has an issue or two. […]

What’s In a Word? Love…

by Valerie Gillies

“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet” – Emily Dickinson

This is Love Month. Such a loaded word. Some languages have many words for love. Ours has one. The word that we used as teenagers, with the “o” shaped like a heart to describe our racing pulse and new-found obsession with the object of our desire, is the same word that is used to describe connection with the Almighty and car preferences. That’s a lot for four letters to take on. But, perhaps one word is the best option, since “love” includes more possibilities than a million words could cover. Might as well stop at a single word and increase the definitions. […]