When my eldest daughter was a few weeks old, I took her on our first shopping trip to the Safeway Grocery store in Gallup, New Mexico. I had placed her in a baby carrier in the cart and was at the dairy case, looking over the different yogurts. A large, vaguely sinister man in worn overalls and scruffy facial hair came up to us. My alarm bells started ring off and I pictured throwing myself over the baby so he couldn't grab her. He stopped, looked at Ramey for a few moments with warmth and affection in his eyes and then, glancing up at me said, "Welcome to the parent club". Needless to say, no baby was snatched,
It's a club I've never, ever regretted joining. It's taught me about compassion, about deep love and real concern. It's helped me become more connected to the world around me, and it's made me laugh and cry and have every emotion in between. It's made me be the best person I can be and its turned me into an true adult,. Lastly, it's helped me become a mother to my mother as her memory fades and she struggles to keep living on her own. I call her daily and nag and scold her and do all the things a mother does when she is concerned about a worrisome child. I don't think I could be doing this today if I hadn't joined that incredible club 27 years ago.
Perfect, Holly! Just perfectly said!
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