Mother's Day

I recently came across the following essay, and was so moved by it. I wanted to share it on this special weekend... please read and enjoy!

"Are you my child?," asked the woman, "My eyes are blue, and yours are brown."

The child looked up and saw the loving smile, and said, "Your eyes are blue, but they see far and they see near. They can see bright, and they can see soft. They can see me in all colors, in all places, and most of all, they like what they see. They have a twinkle that means you are happy. Yes, I am your child."

The woman nodded.
"Are you my child?," the woman asked, "My skin is ivory, and yours is brown. I am from near, and you are from far."

The child gazed at her and said, "Your skin is light, and mine is dark, but it covers our bodies perfectly, just the same. I am from there, but it leads to here, so our paths have merged at just the right time. Yes, I am your child."

The woman nodded.
"Are you my child?," asked the woman, "Though we are different, do we belong together?"

The child took the woman's hand and said, "We may be different in some ways, but we are the same in many others. We like the smell of flowers, and we like to giggle. We smile at each other for no reason, and we enjoy the same songs. You tell stories that soothe me, and I hold your hand when I'm scared. Yes, I am your child."

The woman nodded.
"Are you my child," the woman asked? "I am old, and you are young. I speak a language that is foreign to you. Can you understand me? Are you truly mine?"

The child smiled up at her and said, "I have searched for you for a long time. I think you are perfect. I love the sound of your words, and I can almost understand them. You think you are old, but you are ageless to me. I only need to see the love in your eyes, and I understand everything. Yes, I am truly yours. I am your child. And you are my mother."

The woman wiped a tear of joy from her eye, and nodded. "Yes, my darling, I am your mother."

We live in a world where divorce is a 50 percent possibility, where couples may or not decide to marry, where single individuals can choose to be single parents, where rules about traditional mothering, fathering, and parenting in general have been challenged. But despite the variations in family life that now abound, I think it's safe to say that Motherhood is precious, and worth celebrating.

So, Happy Mother's day to women everywhere - to mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, step-mothers, surrogate mothers, adoptive mothers, and friend's mothers. We all do the mothering, one way or another. It's a "girl" thing.

- Cheryl Saban