As we grow older, we can begin to look back on our lives and think about those things.. and those people.. who are most precious to us. Oftentimes, some of us can get through an entire lifetime without expressing certain important things to those who are the most important people in our lives. Why is that? I don’t know why… But I know that it is also true that in the crazy, swiftly changing patterns of our lives, we mean to say things to these special people, but it just doesn’t ever seem like the right time. Life moves by at incredible speed. We grow up, and some of us marry, and some of us have children.. and these children grow up at an alarmingly speedy rate. And before we know it, these children marry and have children. And the pace goes on.. even more quickly than before.  And when we have grandchildren we focus on their cuteness and their sweetness.. because, let’s face it, they are all the cutest and sweetest little human beings on the face of the planet! They remind us of their parents when they were little.. those sweet, adorable, wonderful children that were our very first sweetest little human beings on the face of the planet! And now they are grown… But when do we ever really look at these beautiful grown children of ours and tell them sincerely how we feel about them? I would love to say that I am a person who expresses beautiful sentiments of great love to each of my two daughters on a regular basis.. but the fact is, I don’t. I tell them I love them on a regular basis, and I like to think that I tell them of my pride for all that they are and all that they do.. but I’m really not sure that the message comes through that clearly. And.. you know what? They need that message. They need the reassurance that we, as their parents, think that they are doing the very best possible job in this world that they possibly can. And that we love them more than anything in this world. We forget.. or maybe it’s just me.. to make this clear to them. We all need to remember that our adult children need to feel all the love and the pride that we have for them. (just as our grandchildren do)

I was blessed, along with my husband, to be able to raise two lovely daughters. Both of them have grown into incredibly loving, intelligent, gifted women who give all of themselves..  their love, their talents, their commitment.. to both their families and the world around them. I marvel at their commitment to causes that they believe in. I see the great love they have for their families and I applaud them for the great values they instill in their children. I see their great strength in handling all kinds of situations while being incredibly loving, caring support systems to those sweet lives who love them so. Such talent, such grace, such strength.. such loving women who give so much to those they love and those things they care about. And I marvel at the women they are. My pride and love for each of them is more than I could ever express in mere words. They are individuals with distinct personalities and strengths, of course, but both of these strong, loving women possess these wonderful attributes.

My dear daughters, I can only hope to begin to help you understand my love and pride for each of you. I know that I have not spoken of these things enough.. but I hope that you will understand.

Motherhood.. it is such a sweet thing. But not always easy. We think we’re doing all that we can, but sometimes, we realize that perhaps we haven’t done quite enough. Or perhaps, we just haven’t said quite enough of the right things in the right way.. We keep plodding along, doing the best we can with deep love in our hearts, hoping that our dear ones will understand and love us anyway.

There is one thing I know to be true.. the greatest joy in my life has been having these two lovely women as my daughters. And that will never change. Keep on doing what you’re doing, sweet girls. You are the best! Please keep on shining and making this world a better place! My heart is with you…

Love, Mom

~ Carole Carter – words