Mothers...

Happy Mothers Day...



My Mother visited recently.

She told me after one week, in no uncertain terms, that I could not have ever found a better mother for my children. I agreed, and looked at her closely. She was as serious as could be. She repeated the statement a few more times during her month long visit. Each time, she meant it with even more sincerity.

Not that she wasn't sincere the first time. The thing is, Kayla just gets better and better the more you watch. She gives off the obvious attentive, caring parent vibe to everyone at first. She holds their hands when needed and expertly nurses them back to health if they get sick. She reads them bedtime stories and takes them for walks and such. While I've seen some parents who would pat themselves on the back for such things, that's barely par for the course if you ask Kayla.

She's not trying to compete either. She's just amazing. Period.

I could tick off a laundry list of little things she has done to make our children feel safe, secure, loved, bright, and important in our home. Seriously, it's an entire lifetime of wonder and she's only been at it for a little over 4 years. What's more important rather, is that she does it for all the right reasons. I've seen doting mothers who were "making up" for some terrible childhood or feelings of abandonment. Kayla just always wanted to be a mother.

I remember when we were dating and I asked her what she wanted to be as a child. She always replied "a mother". She wasn't trying to scare me into commitment either, thank goodness. She was just being honest. She became an educator, and graduated at the top of her field in early childhood development. While you'd think this would be the perfect fit for her, the truth is that she confides in myself and close friends that she really didn't pick the right career.

She just always wanted to be a mother.

This day is reserved to celebrate the women in our lives, natural, accidental or adopted, who have cared for us and raised us. Every human being experiences this person differently yet we all have a mother. Even if we don't have her now. For this reason, we share a common ground...each of us. Who we choose to honor on this day is an individual decision. Some of us have grandmothers and great-grandmothers to call today.

Motherhood demands it. Sure there's hard work in it. Sure there's pain and sacrifice in it. Women give their blood, their youth, their hopes and dreams for motherhood. Women have given their lives to pass on life to another. Celebrate motherhood for those reasons alone if you wish.

By the time my mother left this spring, she was tearing up when we would discuss this topic. It doesn't take long to figure it out, but it's still awesome to experience. Kayla is the best mother I could have ever hoped to have for my children. I'm humbled by her honesty and incessant drive to love. She is the best human being I have ever met, and I am the richest man alive thanks to her. Today, my children and I will kiss her cheeks and hold her tight. Today we will sing her songs, make her food, and by request, wash her car.



Today we will celebrate this magnificent woman, only hitting her stride with this whole motherhood thing, and be thankful. Not just for the years of dedication she has given us thus far...but for the years to come as well.

Happy Mother's Day Kayla. Thank you so much for everything you do.