"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."- Elizabeth Stone
I stumbled upon this quote during my first pregnancy while feverishly reading through what seems like hundreds of pregnancy books and manuals. The quote struck me immediately and I have had it tucked away all these years. Reading about my heart walking outside my body was something I instinctively understood despite the fact that my baby was still sharing my body with me. I knew that once he entered the world my life would take on a new meaning and that meaning was him. I remember going out to dinner with my husband weeks after my son arrived, my heart aching to be with my baby, like most first time mothers. The second we returned home I was okay, my heart was okay. The first five years of my son's life I was able to keep him (and my heart) in the bubble that being a stay-at-home allows. He would go to preschool, but I would be the one to drop him off and then pick up a few hours later. Never has that quote resonated more than when two years ago that big yellow bus came barreling down our street. My son kissed me goodbye and got on the bus, along with my heart. I stood watching as the bus got smaller and smaller and this quote entered my head. Yes, there goes my heart. Thankfully, my son and my heart returned promptly after school and all was okay. Yes, my heart was okay. I experienced it again this year when my middle child got on that big yellow bus and then again when my baby started preschool. I know as they get older it will only get worse. I suppose now I am okay with my heart walking all around, as long as it always comes back to me.
This week i heart faces is celebrating mom in honor of Mother's Day. I do not really have many photos of myself with my children, but I do adore this one. My husband took it of me and my daughter on vacation in Turks and Caicos. The picture just radiates love. My daughter leaning into me with that big smile and the love I know I was feeling. Mother's Day is an amazing holiday. Without my children, obviously I wouldn't be able to celebrate it. It's just funny that they celebrate me on this special day, when really I am just so thankful that I get to be their mom. So, for me Mother's Day is me celebrating the fact that they are mine and I am theirs.
beautiful - great quote, sometimes it breaks your heart but it is worth it
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