Mother's Day Letter

Reflections -  An Open Letter to my Mother by Bruce Camber

Mother's Day

Dear Mom,

Moms are special people.  I am sure there is hardly a day that goes by when you do not have a thought about one of your three children.  And, I am rather sure that you were particularly thinking about me 61 years ago this day. Just two months and a few days later,  I would finally make my exit!   Flesh of flesh, blood of blood, seems particularly poignant when we stop this day to reflect as meaningfully as we can on the question, "Who is our mother? What did she impart to us, her children, that we have been taking forward into the world?"

So, today, I am thinking about you!  First, let me say, "I love you, Mom."  Now well into your eighty years, up in the Maine woods,  looking out over the lake as winter has finally given way to Spring, you are a source of inspiration.   Maybe when we are 86 we will have our garden planted and be out mowing grass on our John Deere!

Those of you who overwinter are such a hardy sort; I am glad that you all look out for each other as you do.  In our last chat on the telephone, you mentioned that Frosty had turned 14 years old. You said, "I don't know how many more years he has, or for that matter, that I have ." Surely Frosty has been a trusted companion for a long time.  In dog years, he may be old; he still thinks he's a kid.  Yet,  that sad day will come and you shouldn't hesitate to be thinking about what kind of dog might be appropriate to  follow him. 

Surely, we know you have quite a few more years ahead!  You are beating the odds of both Nana and Grandpa, but the times have changed. And, of course, you are a very different person. Think about how active you are with all the mowing, cutting and pruning, digging and planting, and weeding and harvesting.  Think about all the people who schedule their treks and vacations to come to see you during the high season.  

So, don't be planning to check out anytime soon.  I believe there are important times ahead and it would be fun for us to share them with you.  

How many years do any of us have?  It is not for us to know.

Yet, if we stop to reflect,  we can know a few more things than we do.

Few people understand my radical vision about being and knowing.  Ever since those days at Boston University's graduate schools, I adopted the belief that we are the totality of our relations -- not our body and not our brain -- but all the relations that we have had and the ways that we process those relations.  The totality of those relations defines our body and our brain.  And, of course,  you and dad will forever have imparted the deepest and the greatest percentage of those relations.

Now over the years, think of all the people you have known and ideas and insights that you have shared. 

Think about how we are all ever more connected than anytime in the past to every one of them.  There are no excuses to be out of touch with each other.  That  flat-rate telephone puts us all on notice.  We can no longer use the costs of a call as an excuse to keep them infrequent and short.  So now, what do we really have to say to each other?

"I love you" is a good start.  "Thank you" is a good follow up.  The highlights of a day are always important.  "What are you reading?" is a good question for all of us to ask of each other.  How about, "What is new and exciting?"  You have been so good over the years to ask, "How's business?" because you know that I believe work-and-business is the way we define our hours and days... that work is the nexus of creativity and the  way we bring value into the world.

So, for this Mother's Day, I think it would be good to compose a monthly letter of reflections about the past, the good times and the bad, the high notes and the low, so we are able to go over these things just one more time to see if there is concurrence in our perceptions and about the meaning of the lessons learned. 

I should have been doing this every year since I left home back in 1965. It'll be a good exercise and one that I believe some of our readers, viewers, and listeners may well enjoy and perhaps even participate with their own mother.

So, let me say just one more time, "Happy Mother's Day, Mother.  We love you and we thank you for all that you have done for us" and then I especially add, "...and all that you did and you are doing for me."

With love,

Bruce

PS.  Remember many years ago,  that apron I created as a Christmas  gift to everyone in the family?  It seems to be weathering time quite well.  The content within it also  remains unchallenged.

PPS.  Unfortunately Maine Public Broadcasting has put the show on the shelf for the time being.  Yet, we will be sending you emails with links to episodes that we think you may enjoy.  Here are some of the episodes of the show that we have done about family businesses.