Happy Mother’s Day and God bless you and your families! 
“Happy Mother’s Day.” I remember the first time I was told those words, when I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter, Jess. At that point I’d gained over 70 pounds and was more than ready to meet her – sooner rather than later please. And then a month later my whole world and my whole sense of self changed when I did meet her. My daughter.
I still remember seeing her for the first time. I’d thought she would be squalling like all the other babies I’d ever seen. But no. As I held her she simply looked straight in my eyes and didn’t waver. My breath stood still. She was the wisest and most solemn soul I’d ever met, and she is still like that to this very day. All I could think in that moment was “Please let me be worthy of being her Mother.”
Flash forward 38 years, and I still think that same thing. My daughter Jess is still the wisest, strongest, and most ferociously truthful person I have ever known. She has taught me to be a better human being, and to grow into my hopes and dreams so that I could help guide her into hers. She still takes my breath away. And now she has made me a grandmother, which is my greatest joy. In fact, she is on baby number 3 and we can’t wait to meet him in August.
The older I get the more I realize that life is a perfect circle. I look at my hands and I see my mother’s hands. I hear myself tell my grandchildren things I once heard come out of my mother’s mouth. She passed in 1995, so many years ago. Yet she is still alive in all of us, simply because we are alive. Our very DNA is etched with hers. I am acutely aware of how our lives still resonate with her truths, cheering us on, guiding us, loving us. And when I am gone, my child and grandchildren will carry forward all that I am too. I am so grateful and blessed to be part of this enormous gift called Life.
Now for the song “You Told me” that I am sharing with you as my Mother’s Day gift to you. My daughter Jess Niven-Kohring and my son-in-law Joerg Kohring wrote and recorded it. They gave it to me two years ago on Mother’s Day, and it perfectly describes the journey that Jess and I took as I was a single mother trying to raise her on an Acting dream, with no child support. Oh my gosh there were hard times, but oh my gosh there were good times too. So many life lessons we shared as we both grew up together as a team, as life partners, supporting each other’s dreams for better or worse forever. Mother. Daughter. Mother. Daughter. Generations living and loving and paying it forward.
I am sharing this song with you today in the hopes that you may also find comfort and joy as you listen to it. That you will remember the words of those who have gone before you, who have helped create the person you are today.
Please share what words of wisdom you were told that have been passed down from generation to generation in your family. What are you paying forward to others now as you orbit your own circle of life? What wisdoms, legacies and traditions are you creating for those around you? How do you want them to remember you?
Thank you, Jessica Sue. And happy Mother’s Day, honey. The best thing I ever did in my life was be your mother. And seeing you with your own children now still takes my breath away.
Love, your proud Mom xo
PS – To hear more of their music, please visit Orbit Monkey and Paper Bags & Pistachios.
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