I’ve been a mother for a long time and I may slowly be getting the hang of it.  I married young and had my first child much too early, but we persevered (That’s me in in the middle with the blooming belly).  Because as a parent, what else can you do?  The child is dependent on you.  And you will find you are also dependent on the child.  The bond between mother and child never ends.  I can’t imagine the pain of losing one, but I’m lucky to have never had to face that obstacle. 

I had two children, one girl and one boy, and then decided I’d filled the house up and it was time to quit.  They were the best thing I ever did with my life and somedays I wondered why.  If you’ve raised teenagers, that sentence needs no explanation.     

My life without my kids would have been flat.  They brought joy and tears, but it was never dull.  I had one that was a daredevil, so we often saw the inside of an emergency room. One was driven to dance and sometimes needed to be carried to the car with bleeding toes.

I worked outside the home, raised kids, and always put something on the table for dinner – it was not always delicious, but it was supper.  My kids knew they were loved and had a home to come to, and an ear to listen.  Sometimes Mom would blow, and the household wasn’t happy, but she was always there.

    Today my kids are middle-aged which makes me old, but we are still a family.  Last night my grandson graduated from high school and heads to college in the fall.  I remember this stage in life when my kids were that age.  A child in college, one in high school and my parents retired and left town six months out of the year.  “Here’s the key, look after our house and pay the bills from this checkbook. We’ll call later.”  I had lots to do with a job, teenagers and aging parents.  But I would do nothing different.  It was life.  It was family. And it was what I wanted to do.

Today, I’m a grandmother, mother, wife and author.  My latest adventure on this planet is writing stories – some true, others not.  But still it is another adventure.  I’m lucky to have been able to live my life the way I wanted; marry my sweetheart, have a career, look after my parents, but most of all be a mother. 

I wouldn’t have it any other way. Happy Mother’s Day!