We Got This

I don't hate Mother's Day. I actually think it's kinda sweet. I've got a mother I love and mama friends doing the hard, beautiful work of raising their babies and all of these beautiful women mothering me into the kind of woman I want to be. And we should celebrate that. Yes, it's a painful day for me. But we know that pain doesn't negate beauty or joy.  Joy and pain. Both-and. We got this. We can do hard things, am I right?

If Sunday will dawn all tender and raw for you or if Sunday will be sweet and special or if Sunday will be a little bit of both, I offer this tribute written by Amy Young:

"To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child—we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day—we appreciate you 
To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment—we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is
To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms—we need you 
To those who have warm and close relationships with your children—we celebrate with you 
To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children—we sit with you
To those who lost their mothers—we grieve with you
To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother—we acknowledge your experience
To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood—we are better for having you in our midst 
To those who have aborted children—we remember them and you on this day
To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children—we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be 
To those who step-parent—we walk with you on these complex paths 
To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren, yet that dream is not to be—we grieve with you
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year—we grieve and rejoice with you 
To those who placed children up for adoption—we remember with you
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising—we anticipate with you."

There is room for all of us. There is room for all of the joy, the anticipation, the dressing up and posing for pictures, the baby dedications, the brunch. There is room for the pain, the crying in the bathroom stall, the heartache, the anger. We are women who love and there is more room.

Love you, sisters.

K