Mother’s Day, Full Circle

We went to visit my mom for Mother’s Day and I had Tripp take a picture of Mom, Kelsey, and me.

When I look at this picture I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude.

I am so grateful to have a mother who I know loves me and supports me in everything I do.  And I am grateful to have such a wonderful, loving daughter who brings such joy to my life. 

But it’s more than that.

I don’t think it’s any big secret that this year has been quite a journey for me – I’ve done a lot of soul searching.  Plus, I’ve also examined my evolving relationship with my daughter and in that process have become even closer to my own mother.  It’s truly been a wonderful, healing experience.  But in the course of this exploration, I made the most startling discovery – one that has profoundly changed the way that I see myself and my relationships with them.

What I’ve discovered is that I am the first woman in at least five generations in my direct maternal line to have both a relationship with her mother and adult daughter.  It’s a genealogical phenomenon that quite honestly is hard for me to wrap my head around.  It goes back to my Great Great Great Grandmother, Caroline Frances.

• Caroline died at a young age when her daughter, Etta May, was four years-old.
• Etta died at the age of 37 and left behind 10 young children, including my Great Grandmother, Frances Jane, who was just 12 at the time.
• Frances (my Granny) lived to be 81, but lost her eldest daughter, Edna Frances, at the age of 43.
• Edna (my Grandmother) died when my mother was only 19.

So when I look at this picture of my mother and my daughter, I know I am sharing something special that my mother and her mother and her mother never had the opportunity to experience.  And I am overcome with such immense gratitude that it’s hard to put into words other than this…

I am Sandy’s daughter.  I am Kelsey’s mother.  And I am blessed.

Wishing you all a very blessed Mother’s Day.  Love, Kelly