When I became a mother, my entire world changed. I felt different with a new sense of pride and ownership. Not like I owned my child, but I saw the world differently. I now had this little baby that was looking to me for everything, and I had to become this person she needed. My purpose in life kind of changed. This labor was not a fun one; this girl was stubborn from day one. It was 23 hours of labor before she finally took her first breath. I had two requests during labor: 

  1. Only my husband is allowed in the delivery room.
  2. My mother was the first to meet our precious daughter before the rest of the family came to the room.

What is a mother? If you “search it up” (as my daughter says today, 15 years later), a mother is a woman who gave birth to a child, or a female parent. While this is accurate, my definition is more. A mother is a selfless, loving person who sacrifices many of their wants and needs for their children. She works hard to make sure her child has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to become a productive person in today’s world. My mother was all of these things.

I lost my mother in December, and I am having to do lots of firsts without her. But I never really knew how much she did for us until looking back over our time together. She sacrificed so much for me and my sister, but at that time we didn’t know. She was a single mother raising two girls. Every time I look at a photo, all I can think of is, how did you do it? How in the world did you do this with a smile on your face? I now understand. I do the same for my children; while I try to shelter them from the bad, we still have to teach them about it.

Mothers Day is May 14th, and I hope you celebrate your mother and that your children spoil you. I don’t think we should just celebrate our mothers once a year–we should always celebrate them. A simple text, or answering the phone even though we are super busy, or just popping in to say “hello.” These all are things that I miss from my mother, especially the once or twice a week message that said “please, print this for my trip.” I feel like she refused to get a printer just so she could have those times with me or my kids. I know now more than ever to never take those times for granted. 

Happy Mother’s Day

This article was originally published in May 2023.