This precious miracle is now about 8 months old and lights up our lives with his adorableness. As he should.
Our lives have changed dramatically with this new addition. There is a new awareness of who I am in this family of mine. As my 80-ish. mother struggles with health issues, as I head into my 6th decade - my place, so to speak, in the generational timeline has shifted. Nothing is lost but our family gains a new mother and father - and a child. Watching my son and his wife go through the metamorphosis that is 'becoming parents', who they are in the world has shifted too.
When we are young, we are intellectually aware of the way a life cycle works. We watch our older siblings and then ourselves move out into the adult world; we watch our parents age and we see our older family members slow down and finally leave us. It is heartbreaking, we mourn, but it is all still so - out there - on the far horizon.
College, marriage, raising kids, moving for jobs, taking on new careers, chasing after those same kids, keeping a marriage together, being part of an extended family, caregiving, watching kids turn into adults... it goes on, doesn't it? Some children marry and some decide to have children. Not all the children - but some - and I look in the mirror and I see laugh lines. I see deep sadness and great joy. I see how the years have passed and given me a mirror that reflects back on enough good decisions and choices that nourished my family.
Being a grandmother. Elder. It feels like the baton has been passed. I am still and always will be a mom - but its my turn to adapt as I can to how my children need to live their lives for work and family.
Children are miracles. May this child grow bright and strong in this crazy world.
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