Mother's Day...

Over the years this has been many different things for me.  It is always a day to remember my mother, of course.  Her virtues and triumphs.  I laughed over a greeting card I saw this past week.  It said something to the effect of, "You made me who I am...so you can take the blame or the compliment."  It isn't the one I purchased, but I laughed enough the children asked me to read it to them.

There were several years after we were married, but my arms were empty, that I hated Mother's Day.  It actually was so hard we didn't attend church one of those Sunday's because the, "Would all the mothers, please stand?" and the pink carnations that were handed out (whether I was skipped over for not having children or given one by mistake) just stung too much.

Then we had the littles.  Motherhood is not exactly what I had pictured in my mind.  Is anyone's dream of the future ever quite what they had envisioned?

There is a little less singing and a little more bickering than I had in my head.  But there is such a depth that I couldn't have dreamed up.  The way that the children light up at each other.  The true joy in seeing each other succeed.  The way they make each other more...  I see their qualities intensified through their relationships with one another.

I am so very grateful that I get to wear the title Mama.  And I'm thankful for my Mama who first showed me how to do the greatest job of them all.

 My Mama & Me (1980)

Happy Mother's Day!