Ken McKenzie
Columnist
When we physically lose our mothers to death, our normal daily routines are uprooted and redirected forever. When Mother’s Day comes around, it can make the formerly anticipated holiday feared.
Just a few years ago, the holiday for me meant watching others take their mothers to a brunch, a picnic in a park or perhaps a presentation of a colorful floral arrangement. When I would come across someone that was in the act of helping their mother out of the car or into a restaurant for her anticipated special day, feelings of anger along with jealousy would sweep across me. Selfish, I know, but those were my honest feelings.
Today when Mother’s Day rolls around, I like to pay it forward. I like to take a flower arrangement that contains white carnations and walk into one of the 25 to 30 convalescent hospitals in Long Beach and ask for a female patient that would be around my mother’s present age that would enjoy the gift.
White carnations traditionally represent mothers that are no longer with us.
McKenzie is the owner of McKenzie’s Mortuary in Long Beach.
