Since my mother is a Jehovah’s Witness, she doesn’t celebrate holidays since that’s against their religion. She officially converted when I was around 18, so since then, I haven’t been allowed to say things like “Happy Mother’s Day” or “Merry Christmas” or even “Happy birthday!” to her. However, we should note that just because she doesn’t celebrate these things on the day of, she still expects an acknowledgment of some sort, particularly in the form of a gift. My mother loves gifts. She just doesn’t want them on the day of Mother’s Day or the day of her birthday. Sometime around that date would suit her just fine. So this Mother’s Day, I did wish someone a Happy Mother’s Day, just not my mother. I also didn’t send a gift the week before Mother’s Day because I figured I would send one to her the week after. It just has to be around the day, right? Wrong. She was pissed. I called her yesterday after work, and she irritatingly asks me where I’ve been all weekend and why I never called. “Did you know that yesterday was Mother’s Day?” she said icily. “You never called!” Well, actually, I did call on Sunday, but no one answered the phone. They have caller ID, but she insists I never called and was lying. She’s always right, I guess.

You can’t be a part of a religion that refuses to celebrate holidays and then expect an acknowledgment of the holiday on another day and with a gift. That’s not really how religion works… or should work. Either be a part of your chosen religion and accept the things it forces you to do or live without, or be free and do what you want!