Friendships come and go, relationships develop and break apart, memories pulsate in our minds until they slowly fade away. Life is a windy road of highs and lows and more often than not, we have to learn that nothing lasts forever. Over the years, we experience loss, get caught up in the pain and reminisce the past. Sometimes, memories are the worst form of torture – they remind us of what used to be, who we shared this time with and eventually who we were as a person. Moments filled with magic; a time made of gold.
What I’ve learnt, however, is that we get to keep one thing beyond the evanescence of time. And that is the unconditional love of the people who gifted us with our lives. Two people who have found love in each other, who grew together to be something greater. Who chose to create a fairytale place where we could grow up, sheltered from the ugly truth of the world. A safe haven.
Over time, our safe haven might not be a place anymore. We thus find it in the people who raised us, who made us to who we are today. And even though they might not always be physically present, we feel their love, their support and the everlasting bond we share with them wherever we go.
On Mother’s Day, we are supposed to get reminded of this bond, bring our mothers flowers to the breakfast table and tell them how thankful we are of their support. But the bond between a child and their mother stretches far beyond the flowers on the table. Its meaning lays deeper than just sharing the same blood.
It stems from her being a figure of guidance and seemingly endless wisdom and knowledge. She appears to be the garden of answers to evidently impossible tasks. We look at her as a somewhat super-human, who manages to achieve the unimaginable, on a daily basis. She resembles our wings when we forget to fly, lends us her hand when we again tripped over our own feet. She teaches us to be of elegance, humbleness, respect, self-love and awareness of the world around us. And most importantly, we learn to see the beauty in people, to understand their nature, to accept their flaws.
The bond between a child and their parent is everlasting, even beyond the forces of life and death. True love to a parent lies within our hearts, fills our souls with new strength that drives us to be curious of what tomorrow has in store. They are the place we can always return to, where we can let go of the walls we’ve built to protect ourselves when they are not with us.
Truth is, though, they are always with us. In our hearts, in our minds. We see them in the way we act and make decisions. Nothing is forever, but the love of family is something that will last beyond the force of time. Always remember to cherish everyday granted with your loved ones and keep moments of joy in good memory, as they will be the light in any darkness you may encounter in your life.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Joana
Joana Serein 