Five Generations of Women

My mom (1 1/2), my grandmother, my great-grandmother.
June 1958.

Mama & me in the hospital when I was born.
May 1977.

Me & Lydia, my firstborn.
January 2006.

These are the 3 pictures that define motherhood. My great-grandmother affected my grandmother, who raised my mom, who poured into me and I’m now molding Lydia’s life.

My great-grandmother and grandmother were distant mothers. They didn’t nurture and cherish their children like they shoulda/woulda/coulda. My mom made a purposeful decision to make motherhood her crowning achievement. She poured life and love and purpose into me (and my brother) so I am able to do the same for my children.

But looking at these pictures I see something else, I see individual women who were dependent on the women before them. My mom may have turned the tide of her mother’s attitudes, but without it Mama may not have become the mother she is today. Grandma may have been the insecure woman she was because of my Great-Grandmother. But what about her mother? What adversaries did my Great-Great-Grandmother have to overcome? How hard was it for her to nurture her children in the way she wanted?

I know what I was feeling in that last picture. I think I can see and hear Mama’s heart in the second picture. I’d love to know Grandma & Great-Grandma’s heart in that first picture. Were their hearts full when they looked at their daughters, the way mine is full when I look at Lydia? What was it like to be a mother then?

Motherhood is like a secret club. It’s a club you can research and see and view, but you will never understand it completely until you are in it. I’m grateful for (if not intrigued by) the women that came before me. The long line of mothers that God put in my life to make me who I am. I pray that God will give me the wisdom to learn from them, their mistakes and triumphs, so Lydia can be the better mother–standing on all our shoulders.

(see more mom pictures at 5minutesformom.com)

(and don’t forget about our baby swap!)