Purposeful Motherhood

Living gratefully today, I appreciate my mom, my mother-in-law, my own ongoing experience of being a mom and stepmom, and the other women in my adult life who have been motherly to me when I most needed it. Mothers have purpose and it comes from the heart.

My mom has lived a purposeful life, getting up early for decades to tend her broods: the one inside the house and the one inside the chicken coop. She had plenty of purpose in her days as we grew up, and she enlisted our help. We are the better for it. We learned to cook, clean, do the laundry, garden, tend to animals, get outside in all kinds of weather, look out for one another (unless we were fighting, wink-wink), share space, and so much more.

I met my stepchildren Arthur and Emily on Emily‘s third birthday. Arthur was 6 1/2. He just turned 31 yesterday and she’s 27, both of them parents themselves now. Our son Sam is 20 and has a girlfriend. I have tried to be a purposeful parent myself. Quality time and a listening ear. Stern warnings and setting boundaries. Being a parent and parenting with my husband Darcy has taught me so much.

The heart of motherhood is both a deep vulnerability and an amazing pride and joy.

Today, my heart goes out to those who have deceased mothers, or strained relationships, or have fertility problems that have prevented motherhood for them at this time. And my heart goes out to my nieces Whitney and Rena, my sister Mary Jo’s children. Three years ago, Mary Jo was in the final weeks of her life.

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms and moms-at-heart. Thank you to my mom and the others who have nurtured me like a mother over my lifetime. Spread some hugs and smiles. Let’s tend our broods and the brood of broader humanity in the ways we can today. Onward!