Thoughts on Motherhood

Today I am grateful for my mom Gertie and my mother-in-law Marlene. I am also grateful for safe travels for many over the last few days.

I appreciated starting Mother's Day yesterday with my own mom. Mom is 85 years old, her eyesight and hearing on the decline. Her garden is smaller and her travels are shorter. But she gets up each day and contributes to the positive stream of life.

She gave birth to 13 unique individuals over a 19-year span and has been a mother for 65 years. She knows which one of us is on the other end of the phone when we call. I cannot begin to comprehend what she went through before we were all grown up and on our own. Thank you Mom!

I was a late-comer to motherhood, becoming a stepmother at age 33 and giving birth at 36. My stepchildren Arthur and Emily are adults now and I marvel at the transformations in them since I met them at ages 6 and 3.

My son Sam came along after an uncomplicated pregnancy filled with excited anticipation and awe surrounding the whole pregnancy process. I know it happens every day and it is what women were built to do-carry and bear children-but until I experienced it first-hand I didn't fully grasp just how incredible it all is. I am grateful I had my husband Darcy at my side those 9 months and ever since.

Here are Sam and I attempting a Mother's Day selfie:

I returned from Iowa not having seen Sam since very early Wednesday morning. He had been on a school trip to Washington, D.C. I missed him, worried about him, hoped for a meaningful trip for him. It was sure good to see him when I walked in the house.

As I tell him, he will always be my baby. For that, I am most grateful.