Mother’s Day can be a mixed bag

Today we celebrate moms and all the great things they do/did for us. They taught us, loved us, showed us the high road and the discipline that goes with that path. They bandaged our knees and encouraged us to get back on the offending bicycle. They sang us to sleep and cared for us when we were ill. The list is endless.

And what do they want in return? Probably a hug and a few kind words would do.

For some mom’s, though, this day can be a painful one.

Some mom’s, for all they did, raised rotten children. The ones who gave her nothing but grief most of their lives. The ones who only call or come by when they need money or something else to get out of a scrape.

For others, it’s worse. Some mother’s, on this day, remember children who died before them. A parent’s misery that’s never forgotten. They cry on that child’s birthday every year. Probably at Christmas or other special events. But always on Mother’s Day.

In today’s paper we visit the story of a boy who went missing 10 years ago.

Like many a teenager, he explored his boundaries, but only the majority, he has never been heard from again. All that was found of him that day in June was his shoes and his bicycle.

There were suspicions and tips rolled in but the troopers were never able to put the pieces together to bring him home safely, or even find his body.

Michael Palmer, who would be 25 today, is in the ethers. Neither here nor not here and that has to be a lingering pain for his mother and his father.

Of course, Michael isn’t the only child out there with no tale to tell about how they disappeared or why.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists 10 children from Alaska.

It seems like almost a weekly feature on the television news of a child being abducted somewhere in the nation, so Alaska can breathe somewhat easier that more children don’t go missing here than do. Especially given the vast area of the state. And because it continues to attract criminals who come here thinking they can hide. Still, one unaccounted for child is too many.

That’s why, kids, Mom wants to give you a hug every time you leave her sight.

And that’s why you should let her.