Mother's Day

When we remember that Mother’s Day is coming soon, we typically think of our own mothers, or of being mothers ourselves. But this year, turn the wheels a bit. Think about a friend going through a rough time. Can he/she take care of necessary prep to honor his/her mother? Or do your friend’s children need some help fussing over their mom?

Give your friend with small children a call and ask to have a playdate. Bring the children to your house and let them decorate cards for Mom. Stickers, fancy scissors, glue sticks, some construction paper, a hole punch and some ribbon will keep little ones entertained for quite awhile, and you’ll love seeing their creativity! Help them trace their hands, or if you really are adventurous, allow them to dip their hands in fingerpaints to make pictures for Mom.

You will be giving your friend incredible gifts. One – the gift of a free afternoon – time that can be spent making phone calls the children do not need to overhear. Or time spent taking a carefree nap! Or perhaps time to run errands alone – what a gift to a mom with little ones. The gifts from the children will be cherished forever, and your part will be appreciated so much!

If your friend is a single dad, remind him to do something with his children to acknowledge their mom this Mother’s Day. Sometimes the tensions between divorced parents can be difficult, so do your part to bridge a gap for the sake of the kids. Nobody needs to submit nominations for a Mother of the Year Award – just allow children to glow from their own hearts. Everyone will benefit!

Perhaps your friend’s mother has passed away. Mother’s Day can be especially difficult, particularly the first few Mother’s Days without Mom. Send a note, an email, or make a phone call letting your friend know you are thinking of him/her, and mention something specific about his/her mom.


Today's Quote: The best advice from my mother was a reminder to tell my children every day: "Remember you are loved." --Evelyn McCormick

The Butterfly

When we were in the development stages of WhatFriendsDo.com we spent quite a bit of time creating a logo. We knew we wanted something to visually represent how our website would help people on their journeys. Several artists gave us suggestions. We spent countless hours looking through images and racking our brains. Meanwhile, an acquaintance mentioned that she had a friend, Cheryl, who was a wonderful graphic artist. We made a connection. She loved the concept of WhatFriendsDo.com, and offered to work on some images.

Cheryl sent me an email saying that she tried several ideas but kept going back to a butterfly. After all, the butterfly is a symbol of transformation or change, love and joy. I immediately loved the idea – because WhatFriendsDo.com is all about transformation, love and joy.

A few days later, on Christmas Eve, Stephanie as I were having dinner she was telling me of the gifts she’d received from her co-workers. She said she’d received a calendar of butterflies. This piqued my attention, since the new butterfly logo was on my mind, but I’d not yet had a chance to share it with Stephanie. I said I didn’t realize she was “into” butterflies. She then told me that during the days following Laura’s death, butterflies kept appearing all around, and she felt they represented Laura’s transformation. I then told her about the logo idea, and of course we agreed it was perfect.

If you’ve not read the story about how WhatFriendsDo.com got started, Laura was Stephanie’s best friend since age 5. Laura battled brain cancer, and the love and cheer showered on her by all of her friends led to the creation of the website.

Butterflies represent joy. Change. Glorious change. And helping someone through that change is what friends do.

Peace.