Happy Mother's Day

"Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that supposed to mean? In my heart, it don't mean a thing." ~Toni Morrison, Beloved, 1987

I can hardly believe that it's nearly Mother's Day again. How the time is flying! And since I just returned from an actual, in-person visit with my own mama, I'm feeling so grateful for the her and the way I was raised. She was and is wonderful and I'm so thankful for her. But just like everyone else in this world, I have many other mothers in my life as well.

As I said, I have a fabulous mother and I have a great mother-in-law. I have an aunt who I love dearly and who meant [and still means, even though she passed away] the world to me. I still miss her. I have a daughter and a daughter-in-law who are now mamas themselves, and have become treasured friends of mine. And I have friends whose lives I fit into as a 'mama' figure in some small ways.

But am I less of a mother because my children are grown? I don't think so. In my heart [just as Toni Morrison said], nothing has changed. They are still my children and I love them, pray for them, worry about them and want nothing but happiness and great blessings for them.

And now, because of these beloved children, I have been given the gift of grandma-hood. What a blessing! No, I am not their mother. I know that. But I am grandma -- and it's a mothering role as well, I think. I love the role -- unconditional loving.

And that's what Mamas are all about, right?!

Happy Mother's Day to all my favorite mamas!