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The month of May - for me at least is similar to December in its busyness. This May I celebrate the birthdays of five close family members (both sisters, my niece, godson and daughter), wrap up 8th grade, attend my best friend’s son’s wedding and celebrate how thankful I am for my mom on Mother’s Day. Even with the illness that has kept her bedridden and unable to speak these past 6+ years, I am thankful that she manages a giggle when I hug her.
How about you? Are you busy running around trying to make your kids study for finals or if they are younger are you attending end of school festivities, parties and ensuring all your children's teachers are remembered? Are you busy planning your summer vacations or counting your pennies to see if one is even possible? All this busyness and crazy stress is super fun, but it can also be exhausting for moms that still have their kids or that have been reunified.
I can’t help but be sad however about all the moms separated from their kids this Mother’s Day. Those that constantly wonder whether they will get their kids home by the time school starts or even by Christmas. I think also about our moms that don’t have moms to celebrate. Either because they have already passed or because they were just never around. And while my child has never been taken away from me and my mom is still living, I can imagine how I would feel if I were wearing the shoes of one of these hurting this month. Can you?
I imagine how hard I would fight and how frustrated I would be if paperwork and red tape and bureaucracy stood in the way of my sweet girl coming home. I think about the moms who are out there trying to do it on their own without support or encouragement or the ones so guilt stricken by their struggles that they can’t seem to see their way out of it. I think about the moms that no longer have a mom they can call up and ask for advice or laugh with. The sadness and the heartbreak I know they feel when they pick up the phone and remember she's gone. I also remember the foster and kinship mama's raising someone else's kids longing for a break or someone that at least understands that they can talk to and get some encouragement. Can I encourage all of you finding yourself in one of these categories that there is still hope for you and your frustration, loneliness, exhaustion and heartache?
Instead of getting depressed or giving up and yielding to your addictions or throwing in the towel completely, seek help! At Moms Adopting Moms we want to ensure that every single one of the bio moms that has reached out to us and who is trying to do everything in their power to achieve reunification and thrive after is supported, encouraged, loved, mentored and given resources. We want foster, kinship and adoptive moms to know how needed and appreciated they are.
All of us are so thankful for those that have supported us and allowed us to hire our third bio mom peer mentor this month enabling us to move into eight counties to offer our services (Jackson, Clarke, Madison, Banks, Stephens, Franklin, Oglethorpe and Elbert so far and counting!). If you have children from or a case in one of these counties and you have yet to reach out, please do!
Life is so hard and so discouraging at times but there is also so much beauty. Just look outside and see the beauty all around you - from the clouds in the skies to the birds of the air to the flowers so rich in color. Be thankful sweet mama's for how far you’ve come and hold on to that in the dark days. We are with you and for you!
Happy Mother’s Day!!
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