Heart The of aMother

7 women speak on their own beautiful and complicated experiences of motherhood, as a daughter, mother, or grandmother.

In all its iterations, motherhood is complex and unique across culture, generation, and personal experience. Yet being a mother or having a mother is often one of the most profound relationships we share in this lifetime. This Mother’s Day, we heard from seven women who have experienced motherhood as daughters, as mothers themselves, or as grandmothers to discuss the ins and outs of a mother’s love, in all its lights and shadows.

Food for Thought

by Leena Chitnis

Indian mothers feed. I remember a time when I was in elementary school, and there was a period of time when bullies would steal my lunch out of my locker. The first few times it happened, I happened to have lunch money, so I bought myself something from the cafeteria.

But on the fourth or fifth day, I didn’t have money, and so I went to the admin office to tell them I was hungry. They gave me a frozen peanut butter sandwich which was rock hard, without apology. As it clattered onto the table, I realized I had only 30 minutes for it to thaw and for me to eat it. So I asked to call my mom.

Twenty minutes later, my mom arrived with a cold Capri-Sun, steaming hot Top Ramen noodles in a small casserole dish, and Chip’s Ahoy cookies. It’s all she could grab, prepare, and rush over in the 10 or so minutes she had to prepare it and the 10 minutes to drive it over.

I’ll never forget that day—how the noodles were piping hot, how they tasted, how there was condensation on the cool Capri-sun, and how my mom poked the straw through the hole for me and handed it to me to drink. I sat in the van with her and cried while I ate, because I was so touched, and also because I was sad as my lunch was repeatedly stolen. It was one of the most loving things anyone has ever done for me, and infinitely tender.

When the bell rang to end lunch, I hadn’t finished eating. My mom looked at me and said, “Don’t worry. Take your time and eat your food, you can miss this class.” It was great fun to watch kids through the windshield reluctantly head into boring social studies class, while I munched on cookies.