Advent I

As she crawls into bed, she gives thanks for her family, particularly her three girls. Nothing in life has filled her heart more than being a mother. Bringing them into the world and watching them become the women they were uniquely created to be has been the greatest joy of her life. Lying in the dark, she thinks of each child like a bead in her maternal rosary.

Her eldest is fiercely independent and, while longing for a deeper relationship with her, she gives thanks for her daughter’s ability to make her way through the world with little assistance from her (or anyone else). Even as a child, she would make her way toward the sandbox and be content for hours while her mother spoke with the other parents. Now she works in Chicago, and her Christmas cards are always full of news about the past year.

Her second is the lively one, always seeking to outdo the others when they were children, as if to say “Hey, don’t forget about me!” A typical second or middle child, she’s learned. She continues to go through life illuminating the rooms she enters with frenetic energy. A theater major, she now works in advertising in New York. Her mother gives thanks for her daughter’s energy and creativity. Although she calls each Sunday, her mother is always grateful whenever she has the time for a fly by, as she calls it, as well.

The youngest, however, has always stayed close. She lives nearby, and calls often. Cards also arrive unpredictably throughout the year. As a child, she was the one who ran to her mother and hugged her at the start of every day and when she climbed off the school bus.  Because they talk often, they get to the deeper stuff quicker. Because she stops by frequently, they step back into the mother/daughter dance seamlessly.

She loves each of her daughters with all her heart, but her relationship is different with each. She celebrates the first two and is delighted whenever they chose to reach out or come by, but her relationship with the third is closer because that daughter still runs toward her, still seeks to stay close.