Mamale

I awoke to mom’s birthday today on the island. It's the morning of May 7th. And there are sweet rains of refreshment. Happy Birthday, dear mamale! Why “mamale” you ask? In German you can add “le” to the end of words to make them cute. Actually, maybe it’s just in my mom’s dialect. But it was always fun to hear my aunts calling each other Irmale, Utele, and Edithle. So, my mom has become my mamale.

One of my favourite wedding photos is this one taken just moments before the ceremony. You see my hands together with my mom’s hands. She is sewing the comb onto my veil as I hold it in place. What a precious memory. My mamale has sewn countless lessons and moments on my heart. She has sewn beautiful tapestries of colour and courage. She has sewn wounds together in my life and healed my hurts with words of love. And on my wedding day, just before I walked down the aisle, she once again was sewing . . .

I love you, mamale :)