Neighbors in Religion: Mother’s Day without your mom is bittersweet

Mother’s Day is May 8 and this time of year I enjoy reminiscing about the days when I was a child and had saved my nickels and dimes to buy my mom a gift.

When I was 9, I walked from our Overtown home, west of the railroad tracks at Northwest First Court and Ninth Street, to McCrory’s five-and-dime store. There, I bought her a pair of earrings made of pretty tiny, pink sea shells. Mom so liked my gift, that she kept until I was in my late teens and asked to borrow them. To my dismay, I lost one of the earrings, but Mom still held on to the surviving earring for many years after I’d left home.

I so enjoyed watching Mom’s face as she open one of my childish gifts. She always acted like it was the best gift in the world and that just made my day.

I thought of those days years ago, when my younger son Shawn was 10, and bought me a tiny ceramic cow that he purchased with saved lunch money. He was so proud when I told him how much I liked the gift. Then he said, “I wanted to get you a cow bell to go with it, but I didn’t have enough money.” It pleased him so much that I like his gift. Never did know what I would have done with a cow bell, though.

Anyway, Mother’s Day always bring back bittersweet memories for me. Mom died nearly 14 years ago and it saddens me that she is no longer with us.

You can create your own sweet memories, even if you haven’t bought your Mother’s Day gift yet. And if you are pondering in your heart what to get your favorite girl, how about taking her to one of the following events and just hanging out with her. I’m sure she would love that.

For example:

▪ On Saturday, May 7, you can treat your mom to a pre-Mother’s Day Breakfast at 9 a.m. at Koinonia Worship Center and Village, 4900 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. The event is being presented by the church’s Kingdom Building Youth Ministry. Tickets are $15 each and may be purchased by calling 954-964-2901.

▪ Then, there is the 15th annual Pre-Mother’s Day Banquet presented by the Words of Wisdom Outreach Ministry at 3:30 p.m. May 7 in the Fellowship Hall at Bethel Apostolic Temple, 1855 NW 119th St.

Tickets are $25 each and at the program the oldest mother, mother with the most children, and the mother who has the most adopted children will be honored.

For tickets and more information, contact Prophetess Dr. Annie Temple at 305-754-7635 or 786-546-4782; Minister Stephanie Small at 386-527-2446, or call the church office at 305-688-1612. The Rev. Dr. Carol Nash-Lester is pastor of Bethel Apostolic Temple.

▪ Mothers in the Miami Garden community are invited to annual Mother’s Day Appreciation Dinner at The Universal Truth Center for Better Living at 21310 NW 37th Ave. in Miami Gardens. The dinner will be at 3 p.m. on May 7 at the center.

It’s free but if you go, you must RSVP by Sunday, May 1, by calling the church at 305-624-4991, or by going to the website, utruthcenter.org.

▪ If gospel music is your preference, you will be happy to know that evangelist Shirley Caesar, whose Mother’s Day gospel concerts have become somewhat of tradition to South Florida, will headline a group of female gospel singers for a “Women of Praise Mother’s Day Concert” to be at 5 p.m. on Mother’s Day, May 8, at the Bank United Center on the campus of the University of Miami.

For years, Caesar has come to Miami with her brand of gospel music that reaches the souls of gospel music lovers. This year, she will share the stage with such gospel greats as Vickie Winans, Regina Bell, Dorinda Clark Cole, Helen Miller, and Lexi.

Ticket prices range from $44.50 each, to $90 each for VIP seats and may be purchased by going to TicketMasters.com

TEMPLE MUSIC DIRECTOR TO BE HONORED

A warm Neighbors in Religion salute to Alan Mason, who will be honored at a weekend celebration on May 6 and 7 at Temple Israel of Greater Miami. Mason will be honored for his 25 years of service to the temple and to Jewish music in South Florida and around the world.

A concert in his honor will be 8 p.m. May 7 in the Bertha Abess Sanctuary of Temple Israel, and will feature the Amernet String Quarter, the Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University; Karina Zilberman, director of Jewish Family Life and Culture in New York, and singers from South Florida. The program will also feature the world premiere of a work of Jewish music by Michael Ochs, who was commissioned to do the work in honor of Mason, Temple Israel’s music director.

Tickets to the concert are $36 each and include a post-concert dessert reception. To purchase tickets, go to www.JewishConcert.org or call 800-838-3006.

For more information, call Joel Berger at 305-573-5900 or contact him at jberger@templeisrael.net

YOM HASHOAH REMEMBRANCE

A Yom Hashoah Remembrance will be hosted by the Mensch or Men’s Club at Temple Judea at 7:30 p.m. on May 2. Yom Hashoah is the day set aside to remember the Holocaust.

The program will include the film Three Minutes in Poland presented by author and director Glenn Kurtz. It is a family film set in 1938, which, according to information from the temple, tells the “rich, funny, harrowing and surprisingly intertwined stories” of seven Holocaust survivors and the Polish hometown. Kurtz’ home movie became the sole remaining record of a vibrant town on the brink of catastrophe.

The event will be at Temple Judea at 5500 Granada Blvd. in Coral Gables and is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the program.

For more information call Men’s Club President Ruben Rozental at 305-790-0465 or email him at ruben@blackpearlfs.com.

‘LIVING A LIFE OF GREATNESS’

The Universal Truth Center at 21310 NW 37th Ave. in Miami Gardens will begin a month of lessons with the theme “Boldly Living a Life of Greatness” at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 1.

Sunday’s lesson is titled, “Jesus’ Idea of Greatness,” and will be taught by the Rev. Charles Taylor, senior pastor of the center. The sermons are geared to help congregants to learn to look away from what the world’s idea of greatness is, to what Jesus’ idea of greatness is and therefore learn how to live a better, more authentic and fulfilling life.

It’s free and everyone is invited.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Neighbors in Religion: Mother’s Day without your mom is bittersweet."