Celebrating our Mothers this May

This month brings about a small amount of sadness for me.  My mother is gone now so we are unable to celebrate her.  My mother fought Stage IV Lung Cancer for the last three years of her life.  She was strong and exhibited a positive attitude no matter what battle she faced.  Growing up with a single mother in the 1930s and 40s, she shared that there were times when they were hungry with only bread and milk to eat. Her mother never learned to drive a car.  (Mother grew up in Kansas and liked sharing that she and her sister walked two miles in the snow to school. We’ve heard that line before.  But it was true.)   And then, she married my father, whose career required us to move two to three times per year. I called her the real Renaissance Woman!

As mothers, we instinctively care for our families, especially our children.  To be present to love and nurture them. And then go through hard times when we become empty nesters.

I realize some of us never knew our mothers.  Or we had mothers who didn’t want to be mothers and others who had adult females who were not blood mothers but loved and cared for us like they were.  Now that my mother is gone, I have several women at my church whom I am close to and who are now my role models.

My story of becoming a mother began one cold winter morning in Denver, Colorado; I was taken to the emergency room and then quickly up to the labor wing of the hospital, uncertain why I was in pain. After a battery of tests was conducted throughout that day, I was informed that my liver was enlarged - affected by toxemia (also known as pre-eclampsia). This syndrome causes high blood pressure, protein in the urine, and possible damage to a mother’s organs, which some say is an allergic reaction to pregnancy.  So, when delivering my first child a month early, alarms went off in my head.  People were telling me my baby might be slow, not fully developed, or behind other babies her age.  Thankfully, I was blessed to have a healthy six-pound, dark brown hair and blue-eyed baby girl.

Having her that day resulted in my missing the baby shower given by one of my mother’s best friends.  My mother stepped in again to cover my absence as she was always there for me and the years after that.  It was too late to cancel the shower, so it continued with my mother and sister opening the gifts for me.

A Mother is a selfless, loving human who sacrifices their wants and needs for those of her children.  She works to ensure her children are competent, having the skills, knowledge, and abilities to make it in this world with a strong sense of morality and kindness.  A Mother carries this unconditional love for her child that never goes away, no matter their age or circumstances.

I want to wish all my readers, who are mothers and grandmothers, a blessed and Happy Mother’s Day.

All my best,

Julie

Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti