For some women, this day is very hard. Some mothers have no children to celebrate with as they’ve left this earth, or they’ve no children yet and they’re struggling with infertility.
I did not become a mother the natural way, or with any great ease. I struggled with infertility, paid an exorbitant amount of money, waited and hoped, was notified of two children who needed a home on the other side of the world, traveled and lived in a foreign country for 45 days, and brought home a girl and a boy who spoke no English and had a whole 4 and 6 year history on this Earth that I will never know or be apart of.
Now, I’m living a different motherhood experience- what most people will call the “normal” route. My husband and I found out last year we were pregnant, and after 9 years of me thinking it wasn’t possible; we’re quite excited. Our little boy has been growing, forcing my body into new dimensions, keeping me awake, and keeping me enthralled with his acrobatics. I will deliver him and I will know all of his history.
The contrast between my children’s origins will not be unnoticed or unfelt. There are already so many differences, I can’t help but wonder how it will all play out once he’s here.
Today though, I’d like to point out, not all mothering involves biological, adopted, or step-children.
Have you ever conceived of an idea and nurtured it to reality, poured your heart and soul into a animal that needed care, tended a seedling until it bloomed into a beautiful flower or plant, or mentored someone younger than you and encouraged them to grow into the person they could be?
Then, you my friend, have mothered something even if you find yourself childless by nature, or by choice.
Mothers, in whatever form they take are the great pillars of society whether society fully acknowledges them or not.
We, in all our messy glories, offer something that the world needs- faith, hope, love, and encouragement.
We are that one person, that despite all clear and maybe even brutal signs of failure, will sacrifice ourselves on the altar of giving the object of our affections every little thing it needs to flourish.
Happy Mother’s Day to all those who have mothered someone or something.
XO,
Ashley
Ashley Portals 