Maria: Moms Are Like Wine

Spending time with my Mom is one of those simple pleasures that always gives me comfort.  She turned 90 this year and her memory is starting to fade, but spending time with her is still one of those things I treasure.  I remember as a kid sitting close to her and smelling her Chanel No. 5 perfume and thinking it was the best scent in the world.  She still wears that perfume today and just a hint of it takes me back to those times when I felt safe and protected.  There are things she does that may have annoyed me as a teenager, but now the familiarity makes me feel that everything is going to be ok no matter what.

My Mom and I often shared glasses of wine together, which made me think… Wine is also one of those simple pleasures that gives me comfort.  This is something we have said a lot lately in these odd and somewhat trying times.  Something about that familiar aroma of your favorite wine. Or that comforting feeling of holding your favorite wine glass between your hands and swirling, it is familiar, and it is comforting.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and for me has customarily been a day to gather with the many mothers in my life, from grandmothers to sisters to aunts.  Wine has always been a part of these gatherings, bringing generations together over conversation, laughter and good food. It’s hard not to be able to sit with mom and a bottle of wine today, but just like that Chanel No. 5 perfume, there are memories to treasure from the tradition of wine.  Something about uncorking a bottle of wine makes it seem that everything is going to be okay.  So yes, moms are like wine, they make everything better.