I made a friend this week. It was one of those new friends you just know God had a hand in the making. Why is this friendship such treasured news to blog about? Well, because it’s how our friendship started. As mothers, we can bond instantly over our mom stories can’t we? Whether they are funny or heartbreaking, they bond us nonetheless. Just fleeting interactions with another mother, can dive deep quick, and turn passionate fast. It just takes a story. Just one. From one mom to another, she shares…. impulsively, naturally, instinctively, a story about her journey with her child. It then unfolds into a compassionate response from the other mom who then relates her own experience about her journey with her child. The bond is built, planted and watered and ready to grow in that magical, maddening and mystical garden we call Motherhood.
How and why does this instantaneous natural process occur? It’s our mom stories that immediately connect us. It’s truly one of the most unique and wondrous of relationships. I believe it’s like a “sisterhood” of women that have that common thread: The relentless, unyielding, tormenting, soul shaking love for our children…. through the outrageous and sometimes gut wrenching journey of raising them.
There are no other qualifications to this sisterhood. In this sorority, the hazing rituals are built in your natural “mom experience”, therefore you have already proven yourself worthy… You just have to have a child. It really doesn’t matter how many you have. It doesn’t matter how you happened to procure one. (!) It doesn’t even matter how old you are or how old your children are! It’s quite simply this….if you have a child, you have a story. If you have a child, you have surpassed challenges and triumphs that only another mother can understand. If you have a child, you have proven yourself to be a super heroine in this world. You have joined the ranks of all super heroines that have signed on for this adventure of a lifetime. You have acquired all the gear, all the equipment, and had no training whatsoever for this call of duty and most importantly- you have survived the battlefield filled with trenches of wounded heroines everywhere. You have seen and felt things that have rocked your soul and drained your heart. You have been bloodied and bruised and can show your scars to prove it. You are a survivor! When I started this conversation with my new friend, I was swimming in my own motherhood turmoil of self-pity, agonizing fret and exhaustion from a week of anguish over my daughter’s struggles. After hearing her “mom story”, I felt that guttural pull from within that penetrated me so deep, my insides were stirring with a painful compassion that still lingers in me now. Because of her story, I am sucked out of my little hole, realizing how shallow it was compared to her crater. I was witness to a woman who endured more than I have ever survived through my motherhood struggles. I was inspired by her strength and captivated by her spirit. A true heroine she is.
So next time you have an impromptu exchange with a sister, remember the impact and the power that your bond can have. We may be strangers by face, but we are sisters by grace…. On our motherhood road, have we not all been brought to our knees or flown high as the clouds? We all have our own mom stories that we want to share and we all have mom stories we need to hear. With these moments of newfound friendships or long survived ‘mother-to-mother’ bonds… may we honor them and cherish them as they bring us inspiration, perspective, wisdom and strength. Lets celebrate our motherhood together, sisters! GO MOMS!!!!
Sincerely,
Your FAITHFUL sister in motherhood.
PS: I invite you to share YOUR mom stories with me! Please post them and touch another sister through this journey!
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