My Greatest Earthly Joy

Peace and Love
mixed media on canvas 2012

What is your greatest earthly joy?

my greatest earthly joy is twofold.....

What I think about are my sons.

What beautiful young men they are, about my journey in raising them. 

It isn’t easy being a parent.

 It isn’t easy ever and is the most demanding work one can do on this planet. At the same time it is the most rewarding. 

The perks come in little bits: words like I love you, you’re the best mom, handmade gifts and unexpected hugs. 

When they were little, there was all the crying, the tantrums, refusals to go some place or do something new.  My patience was tested beyond what I thought I was capable of handling. 

At the end of the day, I am so happy with my children.  I am happy knowing I did everything I could to make their world be a beautiful place.  I made many sacrifices and the results tell the story.  My son’s like each other and consider each other best buds and I know they will be connected through out their lives.

Parenting is the one experience we have in our life for which the guidelines are huge and gray.  What works for one child doesn’t always work for another, somehow we get through it.

Parenting is actually about our children being our teachers. 

They can help us grow as people. If we take the time to slow down, see who they are, what they are experiencing, how we can make things more organized, organic, loving, focused, disciplined, clear so that they can find their way, we find our way.

The selflessness required to raise independent, caring, competent people is hard.  Putting someone else’s needs before our own, a challenge, but I think that is what makes for great parenting. 

I don’t mean this in an extreme, parents need some time out of the chaos to recharge the batteries. 

It is intense, the crying, the screaming, the demanding….. in hindsight I loved every minute of it, even though at the time I didn’t think I could survive another minute without a glass of wine, a bath, a break.

And yet with my sons both in their twenties, their twenties!! I look back on the time, the time spent loving them, fretting about them, shuttling them around for sports and lessons, arguing to get household jobs done and realize they are my greatest earthly joy.

When I am out, I observe parents toting their little ones, bigger ones walking a few steps ahead with a spring in their step, little guys wearing their first baseball uniform families beginning their journey.  I smile, I have walked in their steps and made it through.  They will make it through, we all do.

What are your greatest earthly joys?