August 13, 2000
13:13 in the afternoon
The most significant day … hour … minute of my life.
The moment I became a mother.
Sure. Even prior to becoming a mother, I had read all the chain e-mail “motherhood” messages known to man. You know … the ones that calculate a mother’s “salary” by all the work she does; or the quips that suggest lofty job titles like “Research Associate in the field of Child Development” for stay-at-home moms; or even the gems that I’m convinced are meant to make me feel guilty for bemoaning today’s the fingerprints and crayon “art” on my walls and the spilled milk on my newly mopped kitchen floor, promising me that I’ll miss all the chaos when the kids have left the nest.
And, of course, I had a front-row seat to witness the service of my own mother as she raised her own five little angels.
I had even tended lots of children over the years, babysitting kids that idolized me; my sibilings that pinned me down, gagged me and cut my hair; and even a little tyke (Kevin Nordstrom) that kicked me in the gut when I told him it was time for bed.
And if that wasn’t enough, I had been a responsible pet owner since before I could even walk.
But nothing that I had ever read, seen or done could have prepared me for the life-altering experience of becoming a mother. It awakened in me a fierce instinct I thought only mother bears possessed–the impulse to sacrifice life and limb to protect my child from any threat, real or imagined. Just like the Grinch discovering the true meaning of Christmas, “[my] small heart grew three sizes that day!” And even though I didn’t know it at the time and can’t, in my mortal state, even fully comprehend the magnitude of it now, the moment I became a mother truly did redefine who I am … not just for time but for eternity.
And so each August 13th when Ariana’s birthday rolls around (and it’s happening far faster and more frequently than it should), I secretly celebrate it as my special day, too.
Happy Birthday, Ariana! I am grateful and honored to be your MOTHER! May you always honor and hold sacred the power of creation within you so that your defining moment will be as joyful and eternal with your firstborn as mine was with you.
