Today is a great day to pay homage to all the mothers of the world, to recognize the unconditional love they give us from our birth and while we grow.
We all have a special way to name out mothers. In Cusco we often say mamita or mami, like mommy in English. Generally, we use these words we are children and show our love this way to our mothers. Of course, as we grow and mature we change the tone a bit and even shorten the word to just ma, mom in English.
We also have grandmothers and older women around us, the mothers of our mothers. Here in Cusco we have a special way of calling them. We say mantay, a word used for any older woman. Another word we use is Mamanchis which means the same thing.
In some places they say mamama to address their grandmothers, or may ever further on, such as grandmothers and great grandmothers. One of the most popular words here is mamacha, as for example in the Mamacha del Carmen, or Virgin of Carmen who carries the child Jesus.
Today is a special day in which to say, “Happy Mother’s Day” and to remember this word that when were young we loved to pronounced. We can say it again, “mami” or even “mamita”, “te quiero”, “Mom, I love you.” It is good to also remember the older women, the grandmothers and great grandmothers to have them remember once again the warmth of being mothers.
This Mother’s day will be a day to share with your family, enjoying the best that is had in our land, for example a traditional meal. I expect the smaller members of the family ill be there as well to learn how children show their love to their mothers.
To this, I can only add, “Happy Mother’s Day.”
