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May 8, 2002 - New Mom
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Welcome to 2TheHeart!
While we honor all our mothers with words of love and praise
While we tell about their goodness and their kind and loving ways,
we should also think of Grandma, she's a mother too, you see...
For she mothered my dear mother as my mother mothers me.
~Unknown~
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Send roses and a free teddy bear to Mom! Strictly Roses does nothing but roses, and have the finest-quality at unbeatable prices of roses anywhere! See their wide selection of unique and favorite roses here!
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Don't forget to send in your letters and short poems to the moms in your life (wives, grandmas, sisters, friends, etc.) by Thursday evening! We'll run them in a special issue of 2theheart on Friday! Send to Editor@2theheart.com
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Karen's story today is one that many of us moms can relate to!
Becoming a mom for the first time is a reality-awakening experience
that often draws us closer to and more grateful for our own mothers.
"New Mom"
by Karen Driscoll
After the birth of my twin daughters, my mother offered to stay for a week and help out. Being a naïve new mom I figured I didn't really need her help. How hard could it be? I thought I was the youthful, energetic one, newly imbued through the labor and delivery of two babies with an innate knowledge of how to care for them. My mom was nearing sixty, and although she had raised three children of her own, well, that was a long time ago. I agreed to her offer, glad for the company, but not from a perception of need.
My mother came, saw what needed to be done, and very quietly did it. Always with a smile, she made meals, including the entire Thanksgiving dinner for six that I thought I could handle on my own. She cleaned, shopped, did laundry and rocked screaming babies in the small hours of the morning. She never once did the thing I most feared she would do-lecture me on the myriad things I could do better or differently. She never once gave unsolicited advice. She did, however, frequently tell me what every new mom desperately needs to hear-that I was doing a great job.
I was endlessly amazed by her energy, her competency, and her unflappable, easy manner with my daughters. I stumbled around in a fog of bleary-eyed exhaustion, going through the motions of motherhood, while she busily snapped pictures and exclaimed over the marvels of my babies.She was always one step ahead of me, even though I swear she got less sleep.
I wondered if this was the same mother I remembered from my High School years, back when I knew everything, and she knew less than everything; back when I rolled my eyes at her a lot and she spent a lot of time trying to tell me that there were things I wouldn't understand until I became a mother myself.
The last vestiges of my myopic, know-it-all adolescence died the week after my daughters were born. And good riddance. Because in it's place a new understanding was born. An understanding with a lot more respect and much better vision. I had known I would become a new mom when I had children, but I never realized I would get a new mom. The same wonderful old mom I always had. The same one I just never truly saw.
Karen C. Driscoll copyright 2002
KMHBRDriscoll@hotmail.com
Karen lives in southern Connecticut with her husband and four children. Her stories have appeared in several books and magazines, and her previous 2theheart stories include "The Servant" and "The Gift". Look for another very moving Mother's Day story by Karen entitled "The Wave" - don't miss this one!
www.2theheart.com/thewave
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The Letter Box:
Dear Mary-Ellen,
What a beautiful story of your pregnancy, luscious gardens, both earthly and heavenly helpers, and your deep faith in God! Thanks for sharing such a sweet memory with the rest of us.
My first child was born on May 4th and the scent of lilacs and newly-mown grass never fails to bring back those precious days when life was busy renewing itself in so many ways. Sometimes I think God gives us scents, sights and sounds not only to enjoy for the moment, but to help us recall, in vivid detail, those very special times in our lives.
God bless!
Deb Simmons
Dear 2theheart,
I loved both the daily quote and "Vegetables, Flowers, and Angels All Around" by Mary-Ellen Grisham today! I was only able to have one baby, and my pregnancy lasted until late September, bringing a miserable summer with bed rest ordered. However, I had a whole bunch of angels like Mary-Ellen did! My neighbors and church family visited every day, often bringing homemade canned food, fresh fruit picked from their own trees and homemade supper for my husband and me for almost three month! These angels got me through an otherwise lonely and boring summer and I still think of them as my "pregnancy angels".Thank you for 2theheart and all it's wonderful stories - you are the
best!
Love,
Jennifer Crawley
Dear MaryEllen,
Thank you for your story. It's so good to see how people truly can be angels and long remembered for their kind deeds!
~Jan L.
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www.2theheart.com
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