my mom's daughter

This weekend was spent celebrating my mom's birthday.  It's an interesting time of self-reflection during my mom's birthdays since Nate has been born.  One of his favorite games to play is who is whose mom: Jennifer is Nate's mom, Bon Bon is Jennifer's mom,  Grannie is Bon Bon's mom and Grannie is Jennifer's grandma and Bon Bon is Nate's grandma...and you can see where we can go with this- a never ending circle of moms. 

And I see that now, that it is truly just that.  Moms becoming grandmas who are also daughters as well. 

When my grandmother (my mom's mom) passed last year I had a really tough time of it.  Sometimes I still have a really tough time of it- she taught me so much- to sew, to knit, to garden, to listen, to love strawberries just picked from the plant- that it kind of shook my world that she was no longer there to see me do any of those things.  But I still do them, and I still love them, and I know I carry her with me when I do them everyday. 

And now I watch my own son with his grandmother and I see that he adores her and is learning so much about himself and his own skills and the world around her and it gives me a new perspective.  It allows me to see in a different ways the things my own mom has given to me.  It allows me to step out of the 'daughter' role for a moment and just be so very thankful for it all.  To see the constant ebb and flow- how traits we love, hate or just don't even notice flow from one generation to the next from grandma to mom to child- and how very rich we are for their movement through time.

I can see that my mom is truly my grandma's daughter just as I am my mom's daughter just as Nate is so very much my own son.  And I love that Nate will also be receiving just as much from being my mom's grandson as I received from being my grandmother's grand-daughter.  A passing of knowledge, of interests, of life and love from one generation to the next.

Thanks for the birthday thoughts mom...I love you!