Happy just day

I don't like "days" -- special days set aside to codify what should be a constant mantra, "Be nice to people and overtly recognize how great everyone is, consistently." I don't like birthdays, Fathers' Day, Mothers' Day, Siblings' Day, Grandparents' Day, and the loads of other days made to fill the coffers of card makers and assuage the guilt of people who forgot to be nice the other approximately 364 days of the year.

This rankles people (sometimes, people gotta get rankled, I always say). People say, "Sure we love ______ every day, but isn't it great to set a day aside to celebrate?" I don't celebrate oxygen on one particular day -- I work hard to be conscious of my addiction to it every day. I think isolating one day implicitly gives us permission not to pay attention the rest of the time. Yes, we still love and respect and all that, but we don't remember because it isn't the "right" Day to say we remember. I don't like that. I want to remember every day. I want to say "thank you" as frequently as I can. I want to shout out that I am in awe of what people do all the time. I don't want to define a 24 hour period when one person or group gets respect and then take him, her or them for granted when midnight rolls around again.

So, yes, my mom is awesome. She did a great job with me which allows me to ignore her performance when it comes to my siblings. My wife is the greatest. She birthed children and still had time (and inclination) to put up with me. My sister and sisters-in-law are models of motherly skill and compassion, and my other mom-type relatives, and friends and such are moms without compare. But a day? What about tomorrow? Would it be wrong to make breakfast in bed for someone next Sunday? Shouldn't I buy a card, or take someone out for a meal in November also?

People who are incredible everyday need to be acknowledged, thanked and put on a pedestal every day. If I am not already doing that then no cutesy post or card or quick phone call should make a difference. Here's to moms. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, next week and throughout the year.

So on Sunday, May 8, I want to do what I should do every day -- celebrate everyone. And I intend to do the same tomorrow. Maybe if we all got into the habit of seeing and celebrating the best that is all around us, all the time, the world might be a happier place.