Motherhood

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” Elizabeth Stone

The job I enjoy more than any other is that of being a mother of three sons. I’m sure girl babies would have been fabulous too, but the boys. Ah the boys. The fights. The smell. The fart jokes. The giggles about words that should be innocuous. The sports watching. The sports playing. The sports knowledge. The swagger. The dirt. And the cuddles. My Lord, the cuddles. How could anything possibly be better than the smell of our baby boy’s breath?

Then they grew and grew. At each point I wondered how could anything be better than this? And they grew even more and matured and it was. Better every moment, every day. There was and is a constant stream of change, and we get to experience the absolute joy and absolute heartbreak of seeing them becoming their own men. How did that even happen?

We have truly been gifted with the very presence of these boy/men: unbelievably smart, loving, kind, funny, happy. Even when they are away from home, learning to live their own lives, we are enthusiastic observers and happy participants in the big decisions and frustrating occurrences they share with us.

I read years ago that becoming a mother meant forever having your heart go walking around outside your body. A small price, really, for the unbelievable joy that being a Mom has brought.