Mother's Day

  I have the hardest time finding the words for Mother's Day. You would think that words would just flow out of me like a rushing stream after a big spring rain when it comes to one of the dearest people on earth to me, but words fail me on this subject.  I want so much to explain how blessed I am to have a mother who has been my cheerleader, guide, boundary maker, prayer warrior, disciplinarian, and friend. But I simply cannot piece together the adequate words.
   My mother is all those things and so many more. Her words ring true in my ears often - just like they did when I was younger. I want so much for my children to respect and admire me as much as I respect and admire her. She isn't perfect, but we always knew that she loved us more than anything.
   And being a mother myself also leaves me without the right description. These babies that I carried and nurtured, they are my world. I didn't know the true depths of love until they arrived. I love them when they are sweet, ugly, cranky, sweaty, crying, being silly, and snuggling. Both of them hold my heart. No one prepared me for that - not that it was possible.  I didn't know 12 years ago (today is the day I learned I was pregnant with Jillian) that I would be consumed with my love for my children. But I am.
    And today I am sad for the absence that is painstakingly real for some. A Mother's Day without a mom.  A Mother's Day without a child. A Mother's Day childless.  This is a weekend that, while happy for so many, is a painful reminder that life is often difficult. It does not always have a simple, easy path. So for Debbie, Diane, Dana, Jimmy, Bobby,  Linda, Becky, Sara, Carole, and Paula - I know that there will be sadness amidst the joy. Prayers are being lifted on your behalf.
 

All I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. - Abraham Lincoln

No language can express the power, and beauty, and heroism of a mother's love. 

- Edwin Hubbell Chapin