Mother's Day

I am sad. I have been walking around in a funk for the past week because I miss my husband. I admit that I was feeling sorry for myself because Mother's Day is coming and he will not be here. I draw from the joy of being with my children as much as I can. He's only going to be away for a total of 2 weeks and I realize I am so very lucky that it's only 2 weeks. There are so many parents who are raising their children alone because their spouse is deployed for months or a year and for some of them, their spouse won't be coming home.

Then it dawned on me. I'm not sad because it's difficult to raise two children on my own - even if it's only for a short while. I'm sad because this house is just not the same without Matthew. We laugh, we play, we drive to school & back, we do homework, we color, we lead crazy lives.....but we miss him. Our lives are the same but our hearts miss him and something is just off.

So here I was feeling sorry for myself and then I read a friend's blog. She mentioned another family and how they are learning to dance in the rain in the true sense of those words. It is a heartwrenching story but please read it at Bring the Rain. Our children are important and each one deserves love and attention....and rememberance. All of them.

Often we hear mothers described as fearless, the lionesses of their families, conquering mountains for their children. The truth is, we're all just doing the best we can. We're not trying to be somebody's hero or prove something to the world. We instantly learn what it means to wear our own hearts outside of our bodies and we spend each day trying to cope with the enormity of that reality. We would walk through fire for our babies. And no matter how old they get, they will always be our babies.

So as you celebrate your own mothers, wives, daughters and friends this weekend, I ask that you also think of all the mothers who are out there just trying to be....just trying their best....watching their hearts stumble through the world.

Happy Mother's Day, my friends.