Watching Natalie be a mother is one of my favorite things so far in life. One of. She’s so good. And so beautiful. I can see both my Mom and Steve’s Mom, and through her son’s eyes, I see something so uniquely her own.
I wonder if that’s what all Moms see in their daughters as they watch them grow into motherhood? A sweet remembrance of their own childhood, their own mothers, their own not so long ago journey into motherhood, so recent yet so long ago. It’s all muddled together, but in a good way. I can almost see myself raising children alongside my daughter. And my mother. Weird perhaps, but also spot on. After all, these are the people we carry within ourselves. The lessons learned are what become our parenting styles. We carry them with us along our journey, mothering as our mothers did.
By far and away, the motherhood journey, in all of its forms, has been the greatest adventure of my life. Cut short and altered by my Mom’s early death, her presence has never been far away. The lessons she shared, the love she left, the silliness she infused, they all exist even today in my parenting of my boys and my daughter. And as I watch Nat, I see Rachel. I see Mary. I see me. But most importantly, I see Natalie, and, as Reidy sees, I see Mommy.
Nancy Wiley writes. 