Mother’s Day

I’m not a mom, and I’m ok with that. My mom is still alive, but lives in San Francisco. I live in the Midwest. I’ll be calling her later today. I wanted to share a passage today with a mom and child, then realized that most of the main characters in my stories are without moms. Their moms die before the story begins. In almost every single story, the main character, usually a woman, is raised by dad. Some instances, main character is an orphan.

I know why this is. When I realized I was doing this, after writing a few books, I thought about it and found the answer. I read A LOT of fairy tales growing up. Most of the moms in those stories are dead as well. I was also closer to my dad growing up, so naturally, moms are not present in the stories.

I changed that with Evelyn of Kambria. Her parents both live for a long time. Though they are old when they have her, they still die when she is rather young. They still survive to see the start of the book, and a good chunk of the second book as well. (It’s a 2 part-er.)

Therefore, when deciding to post something for Mother’s Day, I knew I wanted to give an explanation as to why this passage is very special to me: it’s Evelyn and her mother, in a creative person’s very limited mom/daughter selection. Here you are, from Evelyn of Kambria, and Happy Mother’s Day:

Evelyn linked arms with Sarah and nodded. “I’m all right. Let’s continue on.” Before walking again, she turned back to her mother. “Is this too far for you?”

Sarah shook her head and smiled. “I have taken this walk everyday, dear. Long before we start dinner, I made certain your father was comfortable and I would walk from one end of the farm to the other.”

She looked at her mother. “You do. Why is that?”

“To keep myself limber. If I do nothing but sit, it makes my body hurt. If I walk, I feel better and I sleep much better as well.”

Evelyn smiled and kissed her mother on the cheek. “You’re a very smart woman, mother.”

Sarah smiled back. “Only so that you can be as well.”