And yet today is as true and real as life gets. Today I am the mother of a twenty -year-old. I’m not sure how that happened, since I didn’t authorize it. Nor do I feel ‘old’ enough to say my baby girl is twenty or that my precious baby boy will turn seventeen next week. Ack!
Okay, I know growing up is part of life. Heck, most days I think of myself as a grown up. My parents probably felt these same swirling, disbelieving feelings about me at some point in the process. (fortunately blogs weren’t an option back in the Stone Age)
For the entirety of our parenting experience my husband and I have done our best to raise thoughtful, loving children who can get out there in society and take care of themselves as well as be a contributing force for good.
(When the Brilliant Daughter was twelve, we made her vow to only use her powers for good, but I don’t think we ever got the full sworn statement of the same from the Brilliant Son… that might come back to bite someone in the future).
She’s TWENTY. Twenty! When did it happen?
In a blink is my best guess.
You know, when you’re living it, those various stages of motherhood feel unending. It’s timeless. Occasionally harrowing. Beautiful sweet kisses and innocent (or devious) smiles. Gutwrenching moments when feelings are hurt and nothing but love and time can change the outcome. Long, arduous days when you ache with your little one through fevers, illness, or injury.
Motherhood for me has melded into a vast spectrum of love. A suspended sort of prism where all the happy moments are stored up high in a clear, blue sky and the tough times are settled near the other end, in a dim fogbank of memories we might not want to revisit and yet we do – if only to celebrate getting through.
My daughter is no longer just my brilliant, wildly independent baby girl. She’s a lovely young woman of outstanding character with dreams, ideas, and goals… and the entirety of her life spread out before her wildly independent self. She is an inspiration to me, the courageous heroine of her own story. A story that unfolds a little more each day.
Today, we celebrate her as a family though we are scattered across the globe. And today, I find this weird new stage of motherhood is as beautiful and as precious to me as all the other joys and challenges that came before it.
Brilliant Daughter is simply a treasure, one of the greatest gifts we have ever been blessed to receive.
Live the adventure!
p.s. Why did I choose lions? Because The Lion King was her favorite Disney movie. Of. All. Time. (when she was a toddler). 😉
Thanks for the fantastic lion photos goes out to fortherock. Found at Flickr.com and used via creative commons agreement listed with photos.
