Feature
May, 11 2008
A Mother's Day Thank You
by LisaJoy
I have been spending a lot of time thinking about this essay contest - what it really means to be a mom and what the best part is. I asked myself, "What is motherhood?" Is motherhood going for months, even years, without sleep as you fight blurry eyes and a fuzzy mind to comfort a scared, hurting or inconsolable child? What about reading the same story over and over again until you can recite it in your sleep, and sometimes need to. Is it bandaging boo-boos and making the hurt disappear with the magic of a kiss? Is it scaling mountains of laundry, navigating treacherous grocery store aisles and relentlessly hunting the dreaded dust bunnies to keep your children fed, clothed and healthy? Is it looking the other way and overlooking the mess when they are in the midst of an important experiment or discovery? Is it holding your child and kissing away the tears of the first heartbreak? Or helping them pack and fighting back your own tears as they prepare to head off into the big world on their own? Yes. It is all of these things and more.
But when does motherhood actually begin? Is it when you first hold your new baby? Is it when you see their first gummy smile that is meant only for you? Maybe it's the first time you hear that precious word "Mommy"? Or perhaps when you first find out you are expecting, or that you are going to be receiving a beautiful baby to join your family? Is it when you first hear that swooshing heartbeat? The first time you feel that little flutter of movement? Maybe when you see that first ultrasound picture that shows you this perfect, beautiful life growing inside you?
As I thought about all of these things, I realized that the answer once again is "Yes." I came to the conclusion that motherhood is not a destination, defined by one moment of epiphany. It is a journey. It is all of these things, and more. The starting line is different for everyone.
For some, it is that moment when they first learn they are expecting. For some it that first heartbeat, that first flutter, that first picture. For some it is the first time you look into those innocent eyes, or see that first smile, or hear those first words. For others it is the moment they first hold that precious gift given to their family in love. Or maybe your journey starts with an older child or teen you are welcoming into your home and your heart.
We all have a different starting point because the starting point is not what matters. It doesn't matter if the seed of motherhood started in childhood when, like me, you knew there was nothing else you wanted to do but be a mother. It doesn't matter if you didn't even realize how much you longed to be a mother until you first became one. It doesn't matter if that seed comes when you unexpectedly receive a child given to your family in love.
The journey is the important part, and while much the same, the journey itself is different for all of us. For some, the journey seems to end almost before it begins. For others, it doesn't begin until the journey is already under way. Whether your children come from your own body, from another country, or even live in a different home, the truth is the journey of motherhood never ends. The bonds of love between a mother and child do not end when your children leave the house, when they marry and begin their own families, or even when they leave this world. This bond is forever.
Motherhood is a seed of unconditional love planted in our hearts, growing stronger by the day, by the minute, bursting forth into a beautiful blossom that will continue to bloom forever. Whether or not you have a child in your home, if you have loved a child with all your heart, knowing there is nothing you wouldn't do for them, you ARE a mother.
This is for all of the mothers, grandmothers, birth mothers, adoptive mothers, foster mothers, favorite aunties and women who love the children in their life with an unselfish love. Thank you for cherishing these beautiful miracles and precious blessings. Thank you for giving this world a small picture of true love.
