The tradition of my spending a portion of Mother’s Day away from my family began a few years ago when my husband and I were given two tickets to see the final round of the Wachovia golf tournament. He offered me his spot with the suggestion that I take a friend and enjoy the beautiful day unfettered.

It took me a while to settle into the idea, because I rarely took time away for myself. I am an introvert by nature so if I do get away, I prefer to be alone. I also had my own mother to consider since we lived in the same city. In the end though it felt like strange, unfamiliar territory, I went for it.  I reached out to my most sports enthusiastic friend, and we set off for the Quail Hollow country club after church.

Since she was driving, she choose our lunch spot which was the Taco Bell drive thru. I was horrified but didn’t know her well enough to express my opinions. I don’t trust any place that serves Pepsi products or combines its space with another restaurant. Both examples indicate a lack confidence in itself.

As we neared the country club, she passed the tournament parking and drove onto a side street and into a neighborhood. We had a friend that told us to park at their house which backed up to the golf course. He insisted that going his way would be much easier than having to deal with all of the regular traffic for the final day.

Together we did a 15 min hike through the woods, scaled two large embankments, and walked over a long steel pipe that ran across a very wide river in flip-flops. I had not laughed that hard in months. Then we entered into the country club through a back door which was a dirt path with a locked arm railing to keep people from trying to sneak in. We put our passes around our necks, brushed ourselves off, and scooted around the barrier. All much easier than parking in a lot with a tram to the front door. 

We walked around for a bit and parked ourselves for the afternoon on a small hill on the 17 green. It was a par 3 hole that went over a pond. In that spot, all of the golfers had to walk passed us to get to the green. We saw everyone.

My friend and I talked, laughed, and people watched. It felt so good to be with another mom without our children.  There was no one there who needed anything from us, and it was such a gift.  No little sweet children to interrupt our conversation whether intentionally or unintentionally. No squabbles to settle, no body parts to wipe, no pb and j’s to fix, no sippy cup spills to clean up. We sat still and were able to take a deep breath from a long week. I became a woman again, and not just a mom.

Motherhood is a wonderful thing. I love it so much, and I do not take the gift for granted. But I also need to be reminded to cultivate my own inner garden. For me that means sitting still, being with other women, laughing, and on that day apparently committing a small crime of illegal entering.

As the day was winding to a close, we weren’t aware that there was a tie between two golfers. Sergio Garcia and Vijay Sing were dead even coming up to our spot on the 17th hole. The crowd was getting very excited, and you could feel it in the air.

Both golfers parred the hole where we were sitting.  My friend look at me and said, “Let’s go!” We got up and sprinted to the 18th hole. I felt so alive as we were running and laughing at ourselves charging up the hill in flip flops.  We both felt like kids on Christmas morning.

We found a great spot to watch the 18th hole, and both golfers parred it as well!

So we did what any other 30 year old’s would do on Christmas morning at Quail Hollow Country Club, we ran back down to the 17th green to watch them begin their sudden death hole which turned out to be three or four more trips up and down that hill.

We walked back over the course after the round finally ended. We were both a little quiet. We found the back door, went over the path, across the pipe bridge, to our car, and went on our way home.

When I walked through my own back door I was so thankful for my Mother’s Day gift. I was so renewed from having an afternoon off. I felt refreshed by female friendship, laughter, and adventure.