e-mail
I like pictures. I take a gazillion and a half on a regular basis. I have so many pictures of my son’s various facial expressions that I cannot begin to count how many I have taken in his two short years. During visits, my camera is constantly with me. I also like looking at other people’s pictures. Because I’m nosy like that!
I especially like looking at pictures of my online friends and their children. Whether they’re first moms, adoptive moms or moms without determiners, I just like smiling mothers and children. And so when Nicole from Paragraphein made a post asking first mothers for pictures for a mini-project she was working on, I sent off a few and then waited patiently for the results.
I wasn’t disappointed.
The Faces of First Moms, a slide show, gets me a little teary eyed. Nicole started the project to show birth mothers as normal, everyday women, “just like you.” And it’s true. I like how Nicole really hit on the heart of the matter.
We may have lost our children; we may have lost precious moments; we may be stigmatized; we may be hurting. But we have strength left in us, too.
And it’s true. I talk on this blog and in various places about the hardships of first motherhood. We discuss it in depth. We talk about what to do about it. But sometimes even I can get so caught up in what is “hard” that I forget to look at the pictures I have with my daughter and smile. I forget that I’m other things outside of adoption. I forget that I have a pretty darn nice smile, like so many of these mothers. I forget that I have a personality like you can see in the grins and eye-twinkles of these other birth mothers.
I commend Nicole and the mothers that have already participated for sharing themselves in this manner. While the initial intent may have been because we’re so often judged in negative and harsh manners, it does something “extra” for me. It reminds me that I’m not alone. It reminds me that while I didn’t necessarily plan on being here, I’m in the company of some really awesome women and mothers. It reminds me that love can shine through a computer screen and touch others. It touched me.
You mothers are beautiful. Your love is so evident. I am not always proud to be a birth mother but I am proud to be in the company of such amazing women.
(Seriously. Check it out. And, if you’re a birth mother and you want to participate, visit the original post for Nicole’s e-mail and send in those pictures!)
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For more Love Thursday, read:
1. Understanding.
2. Being There.
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Photo Credit.
