The Circle of Life

"Mom, will you help me put my underwear on?"


My mom cam around the corner of the hospital room, and stepped into the little bathroom where I had been struggling in vain to put my own underwear on.  I could neither lift my legs high enough, nor bend over far enough to get the job done.  This time there was no nurse around to help me do it, but my mom was.

As we struggled together, I laughed a little and said, "Well, I guess it's been a while since you've done this for me." 

Later that same day I wanted to take a shower.  I hobbled my way slowly to the bathroom, and my mom helped me begin the process.  I thought I could do the actual washing on my own.  Things were going pretty well, all things considered, until I tried to wash my hair.  It hurt too much to lift my arms up, stretching and pulling parts of my body that still did not want to be stretched and pulled.

"Mom?  Will you wash my hair for me, please?"

I laughed again, and made some comment about how it had been some 25 years since she had washed my hair for me.

I came home from the hospital and my mom stayed for a few days.  She made me sandwiches and brought me juice.  I listened to her reading to my girls, playing with them, scolding them for fighting.  I was glad that if I couldn't do those things for them, my mother was there to do it for me.  I realized that even though Hallie and Hanna put on their own underwear and get themselves dressed now, there may be a day in the future sometime when one of them will need me to help do those things again.

My mom bathed me and dressed me when I was a little girl.  She did it again for me when I was grown and unable.  She did it for my girls when they needed her.  Someday, her body may weaken and she may need me to do things like that for her then.  I hope that I will be able to be there for her when she needs me.  Someday I hope to be able to do these things for my girls again, and their own babies too.

Those are the times when it feels really special to be a woman and a mother.  This cycle of caring for each other, in our weakest times, building each other up to be strong again, it feels beautiful.

I don't know, it just feels like the circle of life.

I love you, Mom.  Thank you for taking such good care of me and my girls when I couldn't take care of anyone but Hazel.

(I realize that men need taking care of at times in their lives as well, but today is Mother's Day.)

Comments

  1. Mimi CollettMay 11, 2014 at 5:57 PM

    Beautiful. I actually had to have Mom help me go to the bathroom after one of my babies when I still wasn't strong enough to do it all by myself. This also made me think of Mom helping her mom near the end, cutting her toe nails and washing her hair, I think. It is a beautiful circle of life, a circle of love.

    ReplyDelete
  2. nicoleMay 12, 2014 at 7:46 PM

    li'l tear.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mimi CollettMay 12, 2014 at 9:25 PM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVgl3EHP_n4

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ThanksGIVEaway

Image
This giveaway is now CLOSED. In a week we will find ourselves feasting with family and friends.  We will reflect on and share with each other the good things in life that we are grateful for.  And I think that's great, to give thanks. My heart lately though has been leaning in a slightly different direction, I've felt an emphasis on a different part of the name of next week's holiday.  My heart is filled with gratitude to people who have reached out in love, sympathy, and support when they see others in need..  Those who have voiced prayers, and kind thoughts and words on our behalf, and on behalf of people seeking comfort everywhere.  The people who have watched children, sent flowers, made meals, and done so much more to try and ease burdens.  And my thankful heart wants to GIVE back to these people, as a small way of saying Thank You. So today I present you with my ThanksGIVEaway.  You know those big fancy blogs that are sponsored by corporat...
Read more

Come Take a Tour

Image
This is the longest post of all time, but that's because of all the pictures. So I know I shouldn't let myself get carried away since we still have the inspection to go, but... I feel like we've won half the battle, so I will show you pictures now. This backyard is one of the  main reasons I wanted this house.  It is on a corner lot, and it is really quite large.  It extends just as far off to the left.  Here you can sort of see the nice swingset we've inherited also, which Hallie will love as it has swings and a slide. This is the playhouse in the backyard.  It's about nine square feet inside, and has electrical set up and in the spring/summer you can tell it is landscaped.  My girls will be a little spoiled. This is the first thing you see when you walk in the house, aside from the stairs which you can barely see in the left corner.  It is a formal dining, but we may use it as a formal sitting room. This is the front door, with the stair...
Read more

Which One?

Image
Look, I know I ask for your help a lot, but you guys are just so good at being helpful, and I am so bad at making decisions. I have about ten posts that I have wanted to write, but I spent a ridiculously silly amount of time on these pictures instead, and now I can't decide which is better.  That's your cue to step up and say you'd love to help, so that I can free up my brain to tell you all the other things I've been wanting to tell you. (Oreos are involved, so get excited.) What I do is I take pictures that represent the words of the song I am teaching and then I hold up the page for the line and they (hopefully) remember the words and know what to sing, until they have the song memorized. I do this because about half the kids are too young to read, or read very well.  Now you know what I do at church on Sunday. The line of the song in question that I have to teach the kids is "for all His creations of which I'm a part".  Originally I just took ...
Read more