This week the theme is Mother for my 52 Cards Project—for a lot of reasons. My own mother’ birthday was July 1st, and while she’s been gone now for nine years, it’s a good day to appreciate her life.

My youngest daughter came home for the week—and I got to enjoy all the benefits of being a Mom—lots of hugs, good talks and, yes, the opportunity to take her shopping!

And on a much darker note, this is the first week in 49 years that women in many parts of this country are commanded to give birth when becoming pregnant, in some states no matter the circumstances including rape, incest, ectopic pregnancy, threat to their own lives…because five Supreme Court justices reversed the law of the land and handed over power of women’s lives to the states.

I sit in grief as mother, woman, and human. I wait for justice to prevail.

An owl hoots outside my bedroom at night. Mother Earth keeps spinning.