 Most people think of a significant other when they hear the word "soulmate" but to me that term has more than one application. My youngest daughter is definitely my soulmate, or as I've heard others say about a child, "That's my mini-me." There are things about me that she understands even better than I do, and words I want to say but don't have to with her because she just "hears them". When she was growing up, we butted heads a LOT because in many ways we're the same person and I had to be the strict parent. My husband was deployed a lot or working very long hours when he was home, so raising our girls, disciplining them, etc. often fell to me. When Sarah was very little, she was my shadow, following me around everywhere and thinking I hung the Moon but by the time she hit her tweens, she was SO over her Mama. This was HaRD for me but I knew I had to stand my ground. We got through that tumultuous time, but it was rough for awhile. Flash forward to a few weeks ago, as we were heading out for a family dinner, Sarah in the backseat, when she suddenly said, "Hey, Mom turn that up please." The song below was on the radio, one I have always liked but thought of as a love song. Sarah said, "When I was growing up, this song was exactly how I felt about you, Mama, and it always makes me think of you." I silently cried all the way to our dinner destination and hugged her tight when we got out of the car. I still think of this song as a love song, but now I see it as an entirely different kind of love, through a completely new lens...my babygirl's lens. Someday she will know this bone deep love I have for her and her sister! "I'm everything I am, because you loved ME"...to the Moon and back, Freckles! To the Moon and back!
2 Comments
Robyn Craver
10/4/2014 02:27:01 am
Hey my sweet friend. I LOVED reading this. Isn't it amazing how we view things and our children see it as something else. They open our eyes to a whole new world! I cried when I read it!
Amy M. Schaefer
10/4/2014 11:15:30 am
I read this in the car today on the way to my girls' new apartment! The time goes by too fast! I cried when I read your response because I feel that way about YOU, lady. I swear, my life is so blessed because I have people like you in it, who've stood by me, loved me, supported me, and shined your light bright so I could find my way home. Love you! Leave a Reply. |
About The Author
I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter. Archives
August 2021
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