a world without mothers
*My Grandmother, Hazel, holding my mother, Carolyn.
can you imagine the world without mothers? not just mothers, but true mothers. mothers who want to teach their children the true value of a dollar, the real value of character, the life lessons that only mothers can instill in their children. offspring bask in the laughter of their mothers, strive to make their mothers proud. i can't imagine the world without them... the women in the world who would do anything to protect, honor, and love their little ones with such a joy and inner peace that only mothers can have for their children. acceptance is such a vital part of being a mother... you accept the lack of sleep, the search for challenges, the difficult times where you may not have enough money, time or energy to be the mother you want to be. but they are still present, still there, able to be a valid and supportive part of their children's lives... the rest are just extras.
*Hazel with Carolyn~one of my favorite photos.
i sit in a coffee shop thinking that the celebrated day for mothers has come and gone, yet now that it's passed my mind continues to dwell on the importance of a true mother. not only to their children, but to the world as a whole. the documentary, babies, has come out and on four seperate continents, the security of having a mother is the same. it's true. where would we be without them? wars wouldn't be present if everyone had a true mother to love them, share their deepest desires and hopes for their children. children wouldn't ever feel the need to join outside families aka gangs or other uncivilized methods of feeling loved. isn't that all that life and the world as we know it is striving for?
*an angel sitting on a bench in the cemetery where my mother is buried.
my time in LA made me realized this easy and blatant honesty.... no matter what we do, where we are, who we are with, what we want to become... all we truly want and need and spend our entire lives searching for in some facet or another is love. the beatles tune enters my head and the overall idea behind mother's day for me is to thank the one woman in your life (if you are lucky enough to have one) for putting you first, for tying your shoes before she taught you how to, for never making excuses for never being there, for being present more often than giving you one, for always being open to the possibilities of your life, for never giving up on you, for surrendering her own insecurities to support you, for disciplining herself enough to a loving, able, and stable woman in your world.
*my beautiful mother, Carolyn, age 5.
for me, mother's day is a great reminder of the mother i had that gave me such a deep appreciation for life. through her death, i hope the women put in my world have seen my mother, carolyn, in me. her younger sister became the woman in my world that has let me fly, let me learn on my own, let me travel, let me lead, let me fall, let me follow, let me understand the real world. cynthia shared her life with me, gave me a chance, showed me that amidst the rubble and ash of what life can hand us, together we can stand up and decide in our hearts and minds that the world is a hard place that is worth fighting to live in. the world has seen its share of death, destruction, devilish forces that can hold to people, places and things. wars have been fought and lives have been destroyed yet the eminent force of good overcomes that of evil. i believe that the best parts of us have been created by our mothers, those that love us unconditionally no matter the distance between us. mothers are the greatest parts of our hearts and minds, the loneliest days are those where we yearn for a mothers touch, kiss, embrace.
the luckiest people in this are the people who can say, "i had an exceptional mother. she loves me for who i truly am." so many want that in their lives. mothers have the power to enable us or disable us unless we find others to supplement that void. i had an exceptional mother, an extraordinary 2nd mother, and about 20 other phenomenal women who taught me what i know. living on my own was fulfilling to me because of the village i had that prayed, laughed and shared their life with me. my siblings pushed me to be a survivor, as they are survivors. i don't know where i would be without the mothers in my world. a part of me feels that my mother knew that a village would be there... mothers make the world what it is... and lack of.
to all of the mothers in the world, every day is your day--just as it should be.
