I wrote this tribute to my mother for her birthday, which just so happened to land a few weeks prior to Mother's Day, but every sentiment I felt when writing these words can easily be duplicated in honoring her on Mother's Day:
Dearest Mother,
I could write an entire blogpost about all
the wonderful things I love about you, ways in which I am grateful for you, and
the plethora of ways you are an example to me. I am so grateful that I came into your world 34 years ago
and that I had the privilege of being raised by such a beautiful woman! I feel
like every GOOD thing I am today is because of you. You taught me how to be fiercely loyal to any cause that I
pursue; you taught me how to be proactive in my life—to go after my dreams, to never settle for less, to
push myself to always exceed my own expectations. You instilled within me a
love of learning and a love of words. You nourished my creative and independent
spirit by being the epitome of creativity, artistic ability, and independency.
A few thoughts about this trait of being independent: I
can't tell you how grateful I am that through your example you taught me how to
survive (either through a hardship—physical or emotional— or a moment of defeat
and/or exhaustion), you taught me how to be a leader not a follower, you taught
me how to be able to be happy with myself and not have to rely on others for
happiness, you taught me how to see a task and be able to execute it. Thank you for never clipping my
independent "wings"; I can't you how many times they have saved me,
how many times when I have faced a very difficult situation in my life—causing
me to doubt the very core of who I am—of being able to muster up enough agility
to look behind me and see those wings, reminding me not only that I was born to
fly but that I have the gumption and capability (because of my mothers example)
to defeat the odds, to soar above the hardships and complexities of life. Thank you for not only seeing who I was
as a child, but nourishing and loving that person instead of trying to mold or
change me into something you thought was an even better version of myself. I look up to you so much in the way you
mothered me. And if I can only get
HALF of what you did right in the lives of my two boys, I know that I am going
to be damn good mother.
Sometimes I think about what keeps this family of 7 together
with all of our different dynamics, dissimilarities, and tainted pasts? But I
now know the answer: it's you, our mother. We all came from YOU; every single one of us felt apart of
you, was nourished by you, was carried by you for 9 months (give or take)
before we took our first breath into this world. Essentially every single one of us took something from you—a
different part of you—and that is the bond that keeps us together. YOU are the BEST of all of us. Now
raising two little boys I realize how selfless it is to be a mother. YOU raised
SEVEN—I now know you gave us EVERYTHING you had, even when you didn't have
anything else to give. You always
did the best you could, and you did more than you could!
I love you. I am eternally indebted to you. I will forever
respect you, honor you, praise your name, and live in gratitude for your life
because of all of these encompassing ways that have made you my MOTHER.
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
And I will now add, Happy Mother's Day!!
I love this video clip displaying all of the teaching moments we have with our children. From the moment they are born, to the moment they take their first step, to the moments they experience life, to the moments they leave our home . . . we are fortunate (some times we feel unfortunate) to be a part of every one of those moments. When the days are long and hard, when the joyful, fulling moments are fleeting, it is important to take a step back and remember that WE allowed them to take a step forward. Isn't that what Motherhood is all about: sacrifice, giving, selflessness, unconditional love? You know I never realized it until adulthood, but I am grateful my mother gave these things to me so that I may have the life experiences I've had. And in my moments of wanting to sacrifice less and be more selfish in my present roll as a mother, I recall all the moments that my mother was less selfish, more loving, more tolerant, patient kind, and my heart swells with so much appreciation—the kind of appreciation I want my boys to feel for me one day. And so on the tired, lonely, hard, exhausting moments of motherhood, I will remember the little feet I gave birth too, the little feet that I helped assist in their first steps, and the big feet that will one day go out into this big world and leave his ever impacting mark upon it.
My Grandmother
My Mother
Me as a mother to these two beautiful boys
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