Happy Mother's Day

If you read that title and think that this post isn't for you, please reconsider.  YOU are exactly who I am writing this post for.

You, who have tried and tried to become a mother, because you have the heart of a mother, but whose efforts have never been fruitful.

You, who have lost babies you never even got to meet - you mothers of angels.

You, who have held your child in your arms and then had to surrender him to God.

You, who have brought an adopted or foster child into your home and raised them as your own - mothers, no different from any other.

And you, who have loved a child with a mother's love, even if no formal ties exist.

This is your day too.  No, this is your day especially, because you are exceptional for the struggles you have been through, for the courage you have had to walk where others dared not to tread.

Give yourself a moment to accept that today is for you.  You are not left out.  You are not alone.

A year ago, a little girl gave me the most beautiful gift I have ever received... in a cup of dirt.  My little green sprout, that turned into my big yellow marigold... and the card she worked on all day to wish me a happy mother's day.

I do not have any children, except for the children of my heart, of which she is one.  And apparently, somehow she realized as well... that there is more than one kind of mother.  This child was nine.

While your hearts are breaking today because you feel like this day isn't really for you, or because it reminds you of something you were robbed of (I admit to having shed a few tears already), remember that.  A little child had the insight to see a mother in someone who, by the definition of society, wasn't one.  Our children, pure and innocent, know the truth.  They know that this day is for you too - whether your child is in your arms, your heart, or with God.

Please take a moment to smile... and remember all the little yellow flowers that will be waiting for you someday, lovingly planted by those babes you can't hold in your arms this mother's day.

Your struggle is a hard one - one that I know very well - and you, more than anyone, deserve to be celebrated.