I'm not a fan of consumer holidays. However, as far as they go, Mother's Day is one of the most benign exemplars even if (especially if) it acts as a reminder to give more attention to one's family on a regular basis.

In addition to my mom, I was certainly thinking of my family—my ancestors, more specifically. After all, Mother's Day falls close to the 9th of May, Victory Day (in World War II) in Russia. As a consolidating experience for "Greater Russia" (the USSR), it is still one of the most important days of the year for us.

There is a wonderful website on which one could look up one's family members who fought in that war. It was really touching to find the listing for my grandfather, my father's side of the family, which included the medal he was awarded. He was only 23-24 years old in 1945! It was even better to see the same from my friends.

That ancestral experience still unites us.

And so I hope that you all, too, spent some worthwhile time with your relatives.