Mother's Day - not a question of age
Sonja is sitting at her desk and flipping through her calendar, lost in thought. Outside it’s typical April weather with a constant change of sun, rain and hail. The morning at the office drags on like chewing gum, and the phone is unusually silent today. Not bad, because Sonja is not in the mood to force herself to be overly friendly in long customer phone calls anyway. As she flips through the pages of the month of May and her gaze falls on the many holidays, her mood brightens. May – days off and hopefully better weather, she thinks. Those are good prospects. And then the second Sunday in May jumps into her mind – Mother’s Day.
She can’t help but think of her two children, whom she is about to pick up from school. What original gift ideas the two little ones haven’t come up with for Mother’s Day in recent years. They have always made a special effort to prepare homemade gifts for Mom. Suddenly she remembers her own mother, and that yes, she also needs a special gift for her. Not so easy, because mothers never need anything anyway, and she is now out of the age for homemade gifts for mom.
Mysterious mood
When she pulls up at the school and lets the children into the car, the office routine is quickly forgotten. Their cheerfulness is somehow contagious, and eight-year-old Laura in particular is very exuberant. Sonja asks why they are in such a good mood, but she gets no answer. Instead, there is only mysterious whispering in the back seat. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she says casually, “I’m looking forward to Mother’s Day.”
The two of them pretend not to have heard anything, because they know full well: Mom is just trying to find out what gift ideas they have for Mother’s Day this year. They don’t fall for it anymore. Instead, the answer comes from behind: “This year we have no idea at all how we could make you happy, we want to say thank you so much for everything. And Sonja again doesn’t fall for it, because she suspects that homemade gifts for Mom have long been hidden somewhere in the apartment.
Double Mother's Day
Sonja’s parents live about an hour’s drive away. Ever since Sonja got married, it has been a tradition for her and her family to go to her grandparents’ house for coffee on Mother’s Day. It’s become a regular thing. In the morning, Sonja is pampered by her family, and in the afternoon, her grandmother, Sonja’s mother, takes center stage. And although Sonja has not lived at home for several years, she maintains a relationship with her mother like with a good friend, who still has an open ear for her. For this reason alone, she wants to be with her on Mother’s Day, to give her a little joy and to say thank you for everything.
At dinner, the topic of Mother’s Day comes up again and the question of whether anyone has a gift idea for Grandma. Sonja’s husband Bernd thinks that personalized gifts are very trendy. Or flowers. Well, thinks Sonja, not very original ideas, but Mother’s Day gifts have never been Bernd’s core competence. Her children and Sonja know what the best ideas for moms are. And although mothers would probably never admit it, Mother’s Day is something very special for them.
Unexpected call - rescheduling required
Then, eight days before Mother’s Day, this call came. From Stefan, Sonja’s brother. Her mother had had a bad fall and was on her way to the hospital. Fracture of the right knee joint, was the first diagnosis. But although she had to stay in hospital for at least 14 days, she had escaped with a black eye. The shock was deep, for Sonja, her two children and even for Bernd, who is usually so calm.
Now it’s a matter of rescheduling, rescheduling, improvising. Sonja, of course, wants to go home to her mother and take care of her father as soon as possible. Everything is hastily arranged and organized. Bernd, who works as a self-employed programmer, can manage his time so that he can take care of the children for a few days. He likes to do that for his wife – not so perfectly, but with a lot of heart.
Mother's Day times quite differently
Bernd masters the new challenge brilliantly – after all, you grow with your tasks. Making breakfast, making beds, setting the table for lunch, cooking – all of a sudden Bernd realizes what moms can do. With Sonja, it always looks so easy, and she also has her job in the office on the side. And that’s when he realizes that he also has to give her something very special for Mother’s Day this year. Something with which he can say thank you for everything. And there’s no question in his mind that this has to be more than flowers or personalized coffee mugs.
In the evening, shortly before bedtime, eleven-year-old Tim starts talking about Mother’s Day. Will Mom be back by then? Will Grandma still be in the hospital by then? Can they even see Mom on Mother’s Day? They have already prepared such beautiful homemade gifts for Mom.
Bernd becomes thoughtful. Yes, Mother’s Day will be somehow different this year. “Let’s sleep on it for a night,” he says to his children. “And tomorrow we’ll think about how we can make Mother’s Day extra special this year. We’ll figure out a way to make Mom and Grandma’s day really nice.”
Bernd becomes inventive
When the children are in bed, Bernd calls Sonja’s best friend Birgit and tells her about the situation. She asks if she has a good idea how to make Sonja happy on Mother’s Day and, best of all, Sonja’s mother as well. Birgit asks if Bernd has ever heard of Meminto Stories. There one could find surely a mad gift. He should inform himself on meminto.com.
When Bernd hangs up, he goes to his computer and enters meminto.com into the Internet. At first he is a bit skeptical, but gradually he realizes that he can kill a lot of birds with one stone. Because with the help of Meminto Stories, you can write books. About a childhood, a relationship or even a life. That fits. Sonja had once complained that she knew relatively little about her mother. And her mother had once said that she didn’t see much of how her grandchildren grew up.
Now Bernd is getting all hectic. Sonja will be so happy that he got her such an original gift for her mother for Mother’s Day. Because she certainly didn’t think about it in all the hectic. A book about Sonja and Bernd’s children, which Sonja writes with the help of Meminto and hands over to her mother after about a year of printing. This means joy in more ways than one. Because this gift is given twice, so to speak. Once in the neat gift box from Meminto and a second time when it is finished being printed.
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And the children give the mother a book about grandma’s life. Written by grandma, supported by Meminto. Bernd is completely thrilled. Of course, Tim and Laura also have homemade gifts for mom, but these books from Meminto are really something special. And Bernd had planned to give Sonja something especially nice for Mother’s Day this year.
When Bernd sets off with the children on Mother’s Day to finally see their mother again, there is an excited atmosphere in the car. They had never had a Mother’s Day at Grandma’s bedside before. But they’ve never had such great presents either.
Bernd is happy – no one has to know that he had the original gift idea from Birgit….
