Celebrating Mother’s Day as a Daughter

By Marianne Bellesorte, daughter of Maggie Bellesorte

This Mother’s Day, I celebrate ten years of being a mother – 10 years of reading stories before bedtime, of playing with toys, of working together on math and spelling. But I also celebrate 45 years of being a daughter, and it is my mom that I am thinking about more this year.

My mom, Maggie, laid the groundwork for the career I have today. Her discussions of politics ensured that, at five years old, I knew who would get my vote for President. Her stories of how my grandmother would stretch money gave me an early understanding of what it meant to make (or not make) ends meet. And her experience as one of the first women in our community to graduate from business school gave me a sense of the constant struggle that women face to be taken seriously and treated fairly at work. 

Mom retired a few years ago. These days she doesn’t drive as much as she used to, and so lately I’ve been taking her to doctor’s appointments or taking  groceries to her. We do fun things like going out to breakfast, but we’ve had a few emergencies over the years requiring late night visits to the ER or hospital stays. 

Because I am lucky enough to work for an organization with a four day workweek, I’ve started spending more Fridays at her house. And because my organization offers paid sick time and paid family and medical leave, I’m able to leave at a moment’s notice when my mom (or anyone that I consider family) needs my help.

But it shouldn’t be a matter of luck. Caring for ourselves and our loved ones is part of what makes us human. Most of us work not for the sake of being employed, but in order to have the money and time to be with the people we love. We shouldn’t have to win the boss lottery for the opportunity to take that time when we need it most. 

Please work with us to create a world where everyone thrives, because everyone has time to care. A world where all of us can be with the people they love in their happiest moments and their most vulnerable. This Mother’s Day, we need Congress to take action so that everyone can care for the people they love. And in my home state of Pennsylvania, where we have a real chance at seeing paid leave happen in 2024, we also need legislators to do the right thing and support all families by passing paid leave. 

Please help us make sure that no one needs to work in the right place at the right time to provide care to others.