The Gallery…Mother Love
Posted under The Gallery
I write about this a lot, mother love. Hard to avoid really since I am a mother, and had a mother whose absence is more keenly felt with every day that passes. I didn’t think I had much more to say on the topic but, never one to be lost for words, it seems I have. I didn’t think I had ‘the’ picture to go with this post, and then I stumbled upon this one…taken when Diggy had just turned one and I was coming out of the fog of that awful first year with him…when I was falling in love with him and I think you can see it in this picture. I have no recollection of it being taken, it was taken at my Dad’s when we were staying with him. That’s his crazy dog lolloping around to the right.
Last week I found myself explaining to Bertie (5) what the role of a parent is, “My job is to love you forever and keep you safe”. I’d given no thought to what I was saying as it was one of those conversations that came at me out of nowhere. For a week or so I’ve chewed it over and, more or less, I think I hit the nail on the head in terms of how I define my role as a mother…to love my children and to keep them safe. It would be easy to spin off and add all kinds of fancy bits…”to support you to achieve your ambitions”… “to help you fulfil your potential” blah blah. But that’s just a load of crappy management speak to be honest, right up there with “blue sky thinking” and all that toe curling nonsense.
In the end, it boils down to love. Ideally I would love to take responsibility for keeping my children safe but, realistically, I’m not with them 24/7 even now…never mind when they are grown up and gone. But loving them forever, and making them feel that love? I can do that. I can do that with bells on.
It’s been 12 years since my mother died and I feel as loved now as I ever did. Her love for me didn’t die with her, I feel seeped and bathed in her quiet but all encompassing love for me. She gave me enough of her love when she was alive to last me all the days of my life. I want the same for my boys. If I could give them anything in the world it would be the power and comfort that comes from knowing and feeling that they will be loved, unconditionally, forever. Because, in the end, it’s all about love. Actually.
Spud, that is simply stunning. Honestly, I read the line “I feel seeped and bathed in her quiet but all encompassing love for me” and it gave me goosebumps x
Such a beautiful photo and such lovely words.
So lovely. You may have made me cry a little.
Beautiful post. I lost my Dad ten years ago – I’ve blogged about it a few times – and he was definitely the easier of my parents to get on with. I miss him loads, and my one regret is that he never got to meet what would have been his only grandchildren (he has 4 step-grandchildren).
Beautiful pic and beautiful thoughts… no, you never will run out of things to say about loving your children, because as they grow older your love for them grows and changes as well.
-Bet, mom of 5, ages 28-16
Oh my Spud…you should have warned me, I didn’t bring a kleenex to the puter to read this.
Especially loved: ‘She gave me enough of her love when she was alive to last me all the days of my life.’
You words ring so true…that’s all we really need.
ohhh, I love this. I love my kids to the ends of the universe and agree it’s an ever changing, ever evolving type of love. They still run and shout Mama when I get home so I soak that up every day…. even though now I have to guard certain body parts, the girls are growing and tend to hurt me when they slam in to give me that squeeze! And what a fantastical picture… is that Dad’s mansion? bug hugsxxxxx
Thanks, Spud, for the amazing insights… I don’t know if it’s the dawning spring weather, but I too have become acutely aware of how much I love my kids. Gorgeous picture! And I love the “lolloping” dog… Must use that word!!!
hmmmm, perhaps you might have warned me that your last 2 posts in a row would have rendered my mascara ruined. Norty Spud. x
sometimes i feel like i have been the helicopter mum, hovering and hovering always waiting for the instant i am needed. the time i need to kiss, hold talk, soothe whatever i always want to be there. now as one is married and a mother herself i see the hovering begin in her too. i don’t think she wanted to be just like me as a mum but i see it there, those little wings beating furiously to keep her no more than a breath away. just in case i love being a mum
Is that my Dad’s place? Er, no…but Im sure he wishes it was! Thanks for the lovely, lovely comments everyone x