'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom

West Toronto resident Amanda Katz, left, with her late mother Jocelyn, and younger sister Jordana. (Supplied photo)

Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.

One Toronto woman, however, is aiming to reframe the narrative through a positive event she's calling Motherless Day.

Amanda Katz lost her mom, Jocelyn, to suicide seven years ago following a long journey with bipolar disorder.

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Every year since then, she and her younger sister Jordana spent Mother's Day with their grandmother, who has since passed away.

During an interview with CP24.com, Katz said that in recent years, she and her sister both felt a bit lost and a little conflicted on Mother's Day.

"Navigating Mother's Day is always a difficult one," she said.

"For a lot of us, it's a remembrance is of a loss or an estrangement. It can be a reminder of a passing, a relationship that is tarnished, or a mother who is separated by distance."

This year, Katz was determined to do Mother's Day differently.

"In some ways, this holiday can be painful, but it doesn't have to be. … We can celebrate it in different ways," said Katz, who last fall started planning a Toronto Motherless Day event. It will be held on Sunday starting at noon at Paris Paris on Ossington Avenue.

"(This event) is a chance to both commemorate and celebrate the moms we once had. It's for everybody without a mom," she said, adding that the day will also include activities like flower pressing and card writing as well as giveaways and a performance by comedian/storyteller Shohana Sharmin.

"It's all about reimagining Mother's Day."

Katz said she hopes that her Motherless Day gathering will be an opportunity for those who find this occasion challenging to make connections with others who "get it."

"Motherless Day is all about turning what can be a low day into a day of connection and creating community with others in a similar place," she said, adding that she hopes those connections will extend beyond her event.

Motherless Day is also raising funds for CAMH.

A few tickets remain and can be purchased online.