To the Mothers before me; my Mom, my Grandmas and Great Grandmas. To all those who came before them. To each woman in my family line and the line of my children, I long to know you and what made you who you were. I wish to hear stories that have been taken from this earth when you left. So much I will never know, so I cling to a few photos and tidbits of information passed down. Oh, to sit with you for just awhile and talk.
To those who buried their babies, young and old. To those who parted this earth with young ones left behind. To those who watched their better half leave for war. To those who got back up after devastation and to those who never could. To those who rocked their babes by candlelight. To those who were the housekeeper, the chef, and the seamstress. To those who made a beautiful life for their family while poor. To those who washed out cloth diaper after cloth diaper. To those who burnt out each day only to get back up the next and do it all over again. To those who taught life lessons, values and Biblical truths. To those who were weary and kept pushing through. To those who could have walked away but chose to persevere. To those who made mistakes but asked forgiveness. To those who entered a new land for the benefit of those they loved and all who would come after. To those who faced discrimination. To those who feared persecution. To those who fought bravely. To those who supported their family. To the widow. The young mom. The old mom. The grief stricken. To those who fell ill. To the depressed mom. The anxious mom. The fearless. The fearful. The strong. The abandoned. The one who took joy in simple things. To the one who though tired, worked odd jobs to help her family. To the one who thought motherhood and running a home were not important to the world.
Thank you.
I may not have known each one of you, but I see you-and your life has great meaning.
The stories of your hardships and perseverance passed down matter. Thank you for your journey, no matter how short or long or how impactful you think it may or may not have been. You are important still.
We are all connected in one way or another and in ways that have shaped my own journey as a girl, a woman, a wife and a mother. Your life played a part, in small ways and big. In ways I noticed early on or not until adulthood. Perhaps in ways I will never know.
No matter the significance, as if raindrops in an ocean rippling out, your life on this earth has touched mine. Even if not directly, your journey trickled into the shaping of me; as you shaped the ones in the line before me. Your life, my life and so on, will ripple out into the shaping of my children and their’s, down and down through generations, while on this earth and long after we’ve gone.
To those I can still hug, you have my gratitude. To those I’ve never met and to those I’ve said goodbye to; what a sweet day in Heaven that will one day be.
