Good Company

My son pops up out of the pool holding two quarters. The kids in the pool all look upon him with that “Aw, you’re so lucky” look on their faces and begin to scramble to find goggles and masks in a hopeful search for more treasure.  I smile and become lost in reflection.

I have an extended family of three girlfriends. Soul Sisters.  One of which I have been blessed to have known my whole life, another whom I have been fortunate enough to have known almost half of my life and one whom it was an honor to have known for almost 12 years.

If you know me, you probably have heard of these women. These women are woven from God’s strongest threads. I wear a bracelet that represents them. They are a part of my family. Their children are my adopted nieces and nephews. Altogether, we form a group of thirteen kiddos and when we get together it makes for an awesome gathering.

I started out this leg of my journey into motherhood with these three amazing women by my side. It is, in part, because of them that I am a better mom. It is because of their friendship that I was not afraid to be who I am. I advise all new mothers to surround themselves with women who are not afraid to be both student and mentor to them as they embark on this exciting and daunting new adventure.

Now, I stand here in the summer heat and look upon our three first born babies – now 10 years old. Three of the fantastic four are here today. These incredible growing kids have such long legs and distinct personalities. It seems like just the other day that I was sitting with their mommas on the floor laughing and cooing – carrying a million diaper bags and swapping our stories.

Over the past 10 years these three have witnessed a bit in their short little lives. I wonder to myself what we can tell them about the things we know to be true and not true about life. It seems that there are and going to be road-blocks and detours that we will just not prepared to warn them about. These things on our journey will make the ride difficult at times.

I am brought back to my second child, proudly displaying his treasure. Everyone else has seemed to have moved on from finding coins. I guess I have learned something myself here today and that is to keep moving forward and to be flexible.  Time will not allow any different – and that is ok.

I look down at the bracelet that my girlfriends and I wear. It contains our birthstones and is adorned in the 13 birthstones of our babies.  I love this bracelet. It reminds me to believe and embrace hope. It is also a sobering reminder to remember what is real. 

The ride is real. Throughout my blog I mention the ride quite often and that is because at times, along this journey you will  find yourself either as the driver or you will be a passenger going places you never thought you would end up.  Either way, I think it would be wise to load up the mini van with good company, put on your seat belt and hold on tight. It is going to be an incredibly beautiful bumpy ride.