Through It All

Mom,

You’ve held me through it all so far.

From the very beginning when you were scared as your life was changing

And you were leaping into the great unknown with faith

In the timelessness of what all mothers naturally do.

You’ve held me through the car accident that mothers fear so much.

You’ve held me through fevers and earaches.

Through long inconsolable nights,

Tired with no sleep yourself and work in the morning.

Through trust in allowing sitters to keep me while you provided.

Through moves, yet keeping me grounded in one school and allowing me to build roots in one community.

Through the years of teachers helping groom me into an honorable student,

And you instilled my love of reading from an even younger age than that.

Through awkwardness in middle school,

And love and friends in high school and then suddenly- graduation events and excitement of flying away.

Through seeing me off to college and away from home for the first time on my own.

Through my first young pregnancy and my own uncertainty then.

Through my blue baby, you more scared than me as you saw it all unfold.

Through another bout of college and growing professional success.

Through my winter sunshine baby, healthy and together with mom for the first time of all three.

Through ups and downs with partnership and motherhood.

Through the times of paycheck to paycheck scarcity.

Through times of abundance and enoughness.

Through our trip to the jungle and the ocean where I had the joy of watching you face your fear and turning it into fun and memories to last forever.

Through times of contentment, resentment, and celebration.

Through times of unknowing and fear.

Through times of becoming and growing into wiser women together,

As we faced death and love and life in all its myriad of shapes

And shades of color.

Through painting this canvas of my life,

Yours the brushstrokes that make up the majority of the picture.

Through more to come together that we haven’t yet seen,

And beyond…..