As I have been pondering this upcoming Mother’s Day, I have
had MANY thoughts mulling around in my head, but especially in my heart. If the truth must be known, my family
is my heart, pure and simple. I
enjoy the blessings of being a mother because of my children. I also reap the blessings of being a
Nana because of my darling granddaughters. As I ponder ALL these blessings, my heart is full and I feel
the need to offer gratitude to those who have loved me unconditionally and have
helped to qualify me for the grand position of “mother.” This blog post is dedicated to those
wonderful people I call family.
My mother, my father, my husband, each of my children &
their spouses, and my grandchildren are a culmination of “why” I love
motherhood.
I am grateful that my parents endured my childhood and most
especially my teenage years. My
mother’s example of unconditional love and sacrifice were my very first lessons
on “how” to be a good mother.
Unconditional love, smiles, patience, appreciation, and more
love are what I have learned from being a mother. Here are some examples from my ordinary life:
When Chelsea came home from the hospital, after being born 2
months early, I had to wake her every 3 hours a) to feed her, b) to change her
diaper, c) to pump, d) put her back to bed, e) clean-up everything, f) go back
to sleep for at least an hour, AND repeat this process every 3 hours. Although I was exhausted, she was the
first to teach me about the very real caring of another human being…the caring
for my child. The blossoms of a
mother’s love began with her. She
is now a mother herself, and I marvel in her natural abilities of focusing on
her girls’ every needs. I now have
grandmother’s blossoms of love to add to my garden and they are wonderful.
When Aaron would tell stories about swimming with dolphins, or
I would find him hanging (and screaming for someone to help him) from the 2nd
story roof of our tree house only to tell me that the wind blew him up there,
or falling out the 2nd story window of the beach house after his
sister dared him to bare his butt out of it, or receiving a call from his high
school teacher as he was being somewhat disruptive, I just knew there was a brilliant
mind at work. And, that has proven
to be true. He has grown to be a
man a mother can be proud of. From
serving a faithful and successful mission, to graduating from college Summa Cum
Laude, to being at the top of his medical school class, he has truly excelled
in life. But when I see how
tenderly he treats his wife and jumps in to help her, I am filled with love and
admiration for the man he is. He
not only taught me patience, but also taught me to relax, enjoy the ride, and
especially to laugh. He has also
taught me that determination, focus, and steadfastness will help in achieving goals.
My blossoms of a mother’s love
grew, and I had a garden that brought me great joy.
Every teacher, every professor, every employer always and
forever had the most wonderful things to say about Rachel. When in grade school, she would be
found helping to feed the special needs students their lunch or playing with
them on the playground so they wouldn’t feel left out. In second grade, she would often be
found reading stories to her class members. She genuinely cares about people. Her pure kindness and compassion has blossomed and led her
in a direction to help and lift others.
One of her teachers once told me, “your daughter is not only smart, beautiful
on the inside and on the out, but you can tell she has God in her life.” And again, my blossoms of a mother’s
love grew and I loved my garden.
Our youngest Zach came into this world and stole our
hearts. One day, one of our
Spanish bayonet yucca plants pierced my hand ~it actually hit a vein and blood
was oozing! I went into the house
and Zach saw my hand and immediately said, “Mom, let me help you! I am a Boy Scout and I learned how to
fix this!” While I knew I was
going to be all right, I needed to let him help me, as he desperately wanted to
do so. It was so cute how he got a
towel and began applying pressure, explaining to me all the while “why” he was
doing what he was doing. That
memory still makes me smile. He
loved playing on his drums. He
loved finding things to do when he was “bored.” He was not afraid to try and do anything, because he loved
to experience everything. My
garden was beautiful and full with Zach’s added splash of color. But now, there is a little patch of blossoms
missing from my garden here on earth, as my Zach walks with angels. He is deeply missed from my earthly
garden. I am grateful for angel
blossoms for they have taught me through the depths of sorrow that death cannot
destroy the blossoms of a mother’s love.
I love my garden. I love the beauty of all the different
flowers for they show their different personalities…their own uniqueness. When I gather all those flowers and
create the most beautiful bouquet, I have created my family. Each flower is sweet. Each flower is extraordinary. Each flower is precious. Each flower is a gift from God. I am ever grateful for the privilege I
have been given to be a mother. It
truly is the greatest calling I could ever hope to have in life.
Below are some pics that bring me joy AND...IF... you want to keep reading, I wrote a poem just for my kids! I love you all and thank you for being my greatest treasures. <3
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| These are my happy thoughts |
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| Love at Home |
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| Smiles and love |
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| Big Brother love |
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| Best friends |
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| Zach loves Brooklynn |
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| Showing off with the sisters |
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| Forever friends, forever family |
The Greatest Gifts From God Above
By Wendy Pulsipher
Once there were little hands
And also very little feet
Little did I know
How they would all make my life complete
These little people I like to call my children
Came into my life
With their sweet personalities
Bringing absolutely no strife ;)
The first to come was Chelsea
A girly girl to be sure
Her beauty and countenance
Are everything that is pure
The second was Aaron
A boy whose imagination
Was vast and endearing
While running in his world of limitless creation
Then came Rachel
She is a beauty and so you see
With a genuine warmth and compassion
She embraces all humanity
And then came Zach
A little boy who began each day running
From getting into this and then into that
He made life simply for the “funning”
My children have since left my nest
And as adults have succeeded
At times I do receive a call
For some advice they have needed
Chelsea married Jeff
They’ve two darling girls that’s true
With one more on the way
They will need a bigger church pew
Aaron married Katie
In school they both are
Katie a PhD and Aaron an MD
I think they may both be total rock stars
Rachel married Richard
Also known as R&R
With being newlyweds and just starting out
They are on the path of life that will take them far
Our dear Zach left this life early
Leaving our hearts quite broken
His eyes, his smile, and his sweet laugh
Are memories of him that are my sweet tokens
When I ponder being a mother
The greatest gift from God above
My eyes spill with tears and heart swells with joy
To have experienced such
love
