How many Mothers have you?

As I thought about Mothers' Day today, I began to widen my concept. Because there are, or have been, other mothers in my life and not just my birth mother, close to the angels as she was. My mother-in-law woke me up in certain needed ways. Aunts played a big role for me, both when I was a girl and when I grew up. But as I look back, I see two non-family-connected women who were and are vitally important to me . Both of them happen to be younger than I.

This week I'll meet with one of them. She's the woman who's been a mother to me as far as my fiction-writing is concerned. I still have a vivid memory of sitting opposite her at Tim Horton's not very long after we met. Together we worked out a short paragraph summary of my book that I used in queries to publishers and agents. Over the years this was modified a bit, but not much. Now I have an agent and my novel 'Cape Town' will be published next spring. I couldn't have arrived at this point without her.

Then there's the woman who I consider my spiritual mother. Although she lives across the Atlantic, we know we'll always be close, even if we never see each other again in the flesh. She helped me find the path I was seeking and set me right. Without her I wonder if my life would ever have been as rich and meaningful, if I'd ever have found a way to grow into wonder at the world, or found a method to lift my consciousness and develop towards confidence and self-knowledge.

To all of these I send my love and gratitude. Now, how many 'other' mothers have you had in your life?