Mother's Day Memories

Mother’s Day has always been a big deal in our Family.

As early as I can remember, it was a day for dressing in our best outfits and heading out for lunch, and at a restaurant.

For many years, the venue of choice was McClure’s near the lake at Albert Park.

Seating was in booths and each had a phone to be used for ordering but as much as I wanted to do this, it seemed a waitress always appeared to take the order.

I would spend quite some time going through the menu before ordering exactly the same meal – Southern Fried Chicken.

Our Parents viewed such outings as part of our education, teaching us how to behave and act when in a restaurant. We were also exposed to visits to Live Theatre for the same reason and I vividly recall productions such as Funny Girl and No No Nannette.

We moved on from McClure’s in our teenage years however Mother’s Day lunch maintained its reverence. I recall several restaurants however cannot recall the names, apart from Leonda on the Yarra River at Hawthorn where a floor show added to the ambience and celebration of the day. We were adults by this time.

We were brought up to adhere to commitments we made to team sport. I recall when playing Junior cricket, Mum and my Sister departed for our Queensland Holiday on a Saturday morning however my Father and myself caught an afternoon flight so I could complete the cricket match. The mantra was if you commit to the team at the start of the season, you play every week.

However, when Hockey Victoria began scheduling State League fixtures on Sunday and they clashed with Mother’s Day, there was no question of me playing. Mother’s Day is sacred and the only reason a game would be missed.

Mum is now a Great Grand Mother.

If only she could return to McClure’s with her Children, Grand Children and Great Grand Daughter. I can picture her enjoying being the centre of attention, while all the time pretending not to be the centre of attention.  I can visualise her conducting proceedings with that easy attentive nature, always making sure everyone else was happy and taken care of. And doing so with her ever present smile and laughter, often at her own expense. However, I somehow think a certain little lady of nearly 8 weeks of age may command most of her attention, quite righty too.

Happy Mother’s Day Mum