Rare and Lovely Moments

There have been many lovely moments in my life this past year, and I feel so absolutely graced to have lived them! The ones that stand out (NOT in order of importance!) ...

• Sunsets on the beach and morning coffee at home with Jesse
• Sharing love and confidences with Eric and Amber when they visited us in April
• Visiting with Rachel, Rick and Lela, and strengthening our relationships
• Visits with close friends
• Being loved and accepted by Jesse's family
• Chinese dinner with my sister, Sandy, and family
• Planning an April wedding in Hawaii

Thoughts and Emotions

Twice this week I have had the joy of rocking to sleep my two-year-old granddaughter. As I softly sang to her, I re-lived the ultimate contentment of rocking her mommy just a heartbeat ago; and being rocked by my mother and grandma, just as they were rocked to sleep by their mothers. It was a rare and lovely moment that I treasured as I brushed back her hair and imagined the tapestry of grandmothers, mothers and babies tying together the world with the strongest and gentlest bond -- unconditional love. As I sang the lullabies I knew (slightly edited to remove the scary symbolism), I thought about how different this little Lela's life will be from that of her great grandma for whom she was named.

I thought of the old poem by William R Wallace, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world," and considered that possibly we mothers and grandmothers don't fully comprehend how significant our unconditional love can be. For instance . . .

Someone once said that, with the innovation of safety nets, the number of lives lost during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was reduced by 50 percent. Not only that, the number of falls (in comparison to the number before the use of nets) was drastically reduced. It seems that, because they felt safer, the workers were more confident and less fearful.

I believe the confidence of our children is based in the "safety net," the security, of our unconditional love and approval. If they know that we will love them when if they fall -- and when they FAIL -- they will be more self-assured in pursuing their dreams. Or, in the words of Sam Levinson, in "living the stories they were created to tell."

And so, for my children, their spouses, and my granddaughter, I offer my unrestricted, unlimited, and absolute love.

Live life to the fullest!

And I will do the same.

Happy New Year!