This Mother's Day was one to remember. I didn't get an elaborate gift or go to some really expensive restaurant. And no, I didn't spend the day alone because my family forgot that it was the one day of the year set aside to honor the women in their lives. It was actually a very simple yet beautiful day.
My boys made me banana pancakes (my favorite) while I got ready for church, alone and uninterrupted. If you are a mother you understand the beauty of an hour of prep time all to yourself. We went to church and enjoyed a beautiful service honoring mothers, came home and had lunch. Took a rest and had my mom over for dinner. Followed by dessert, my new favorite gelato that I just can't get enough of. It's worth every single penny we spend on it and at 6 dollars a pint, that certainly says a lot.
So why was it so memorable? I guess the only way to put it is to compare it to the first birthday you have where you actually realize the significance behind your celebration. That it's more than cake and presents. It's bigger than all of the tangible aspects. Or when you realize Christmas is bigger than Santa Clause and a pine tree sitting in your living room for a month. Your view of the holidays and traditions you have become so accustom to, finally matures and you see things in a new light.
That's how this Mother's Day was for me. I walked around the majority of the day feeling weepy. I know that may sound strange but it's true. To say I love being a mother, is an understatement. To say I love my child and the sweet baby growing inside of me, are understatements. To say I am grateful for my own mother for giving me life, is an understatement. To say I feel more blessed than I will ever feel that I deserve, is a HUGE understatement.
I see things through my mother eyes and heart now. And to be completely honest, I don't think I truly understood what that meant until just recently. Motherhood is instantaneous. The moment I knew there was a baby on the way, my heart changed. When that baby was placed in my arms for the first time, my heart changed. This Mother's Day my heart changed. This is my 4th Mother's Day if you count the first one when I was pregnant with Kai. I am not ashamed to admit that things are different for me now. I believe motherhood, like anything, is a life long process that continues to evolve, grow and mature. Surely, I will be a different mother to teenagers than I will be to my little ones. Though, my love will never change or go away, even if my "babies" are 60 years old.
Motherhood is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.
What I'm trying to say is that this past Sunday, I saw the bigger picture. I saw Mother's Day through my mother eyes. I saw the beautiful sacrifice women have made for their children, I saw the joy and the pain, I saw my son gripping his little hand into mine as we walked across the street, I heard his high pitched little voice calling my name, I felt the precious baby boy I'm carrying kick, roll, and hiccup. I saw my own hand holding my Mother's when I was a little girl, I heard her voice and all the songs she used to sing to me, I saw women who wanted so much to become mothers but their bodies would not let them, I saw all the women who didn't want to have kids and felt pain in my heart for the immense amount of joy they would miss out on that they would never be able to comprehend, I saw the mothers who lost their babies and the whole in their hearts that could never be refilled, I saw young mothers and old, married moms, and single moms who are in my opinion, absolutely amazing; I saw women pregnant with their first babies completely unaware what their sweet hearts were in for, I saw everything all wrapped up together, alike and different, how quickly time flies by and how beautiful this world really is.
See why I felt so weepy? You could blame it on my pregnancy hormones or my sensitive heart as a woman but I'm certain it was because I saw the big, beautiful picture. And for that I am grateful.
