Today was my first mother’s day, and although the thrill of being a mom myself is amazing, I found myself spending a lot of time thinking about my mom, or “Mimi” as my neices call her. My mom just got home from spending the entire week in Florida with her mom, or “Gigi” as we call her (as in G.G., or “Great Grandma”).
Gigi lost her husband to cancer just a few months before my mom lost my dad to cancer. She’s been living on her own for five years now, with lots of family closeby to help out as needed, and keep her company (or should I say, enjoy her company…my grandma is hilarious, and loads of fun!). However, she recently received a diagnosis that prompted our family, herself included, to agree it was time to move her into an assisted living facility. So my mom, along with her sister, spent this past week scoping out possible locations, working on logistics, and ultimately just caring for their mom.
Like the great husband and father that he is, Brian gave me complete decision-making rights today…I got to pick where we went to lunch, where we order dinner from (he just suggested Juicy Burgers…I love him), and how I spent my afternoon while he watched Avery. As strange as you may find this, all I wanted to do was spend a couple of hours out front getting rid of a ton of weeds and a climbing rose bush that had disappointed me for two summers already. So he stayed in with her and I headed outside to do some work.
What a huge pain that rose bush was! The neglected condition it was in shows me that it had been there many, many years, and I knew there would be a lot of roots to pull up. I went to town cutting back all the brush first so I wouldn’t get punctured by thorns every five seconds. It filled one lawn bag about two thirds of the way and I thought I should start with a fresh one as I tackled the roots. I started with what I saw poking through the ground and followed it, destroying any ground that got in my way until I reached the end. About two hours and two full lawn bags later, I found myself about a foot into the ground and four feet from where I’d started.
I couldn’t help but think of how amazing this root system was. The span was unbelievable, the depth was surprising, and the volume of them was…well it was really heavy. I kept thinking about how even the roots four feet out from where the bush broke through the ground’s surface were integral in keeping it there. Or how many roots it took to hold the bush in place. I couldn’t help but realize how I paid so much attention to what I saw above the surface and often forgot about the amazing (and much larger) root system that supported it.
As I came inside after finishing up, and heated up a cup of coffee from this morning’s pot (something both Gigi and Mimi do!) I couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing women whose legacy I have the privilege of carrying on…the women who make up my strong roots. That includes my mom, her mom, and my dad’s mom. Women of God, women of prayer, women of strength and purpose. I am ashamed to say I sometimes forget how their lives are the very reason I am who I am today…they have supported me and been my life line.
Then my mind wanders to my daughter and the great things I hope to see her accomplish in her lifetime. I hope that I can be the kind of influence on her that my mom has been on me. And of all the great things I hope she does, all the things I hope she experiences, I can think of no greater ambition for my daughter than for her continue this great legacy of women in the Massey and Acuff families…for my baby girl to someday know the joy, the honor, the privilege, and the great responsibility that is motherhood.
I wish I had pictures of Avery with BOTH of my grandma’s but for now, here is one of her with my dad’s mom “Dadaji.” Bonding with her granddaughter and her great granddaughter!
