May I just say, and I know I'm repeating myself, how proud I am of the loving, hard-working, loyal, funny and kind adults who are my children. I do not understand some of their choices - Sam's tattoos, Anna's soap operas etc. Of course there are concerns. I wish my son would settle down with a nice interesting woman not unlike - let's be honest - me. I wish my daughter were more interested in fitness, just like - let's be honest - HER FIT FAB MOTHER.
But where it matters, in the treatment of their family and friends and the planet, they are gold. They are gold. I've been given many gifts - 66 years of health, a home, a brain, creativity and curiosity and wonder and work I love. But the greatest of these - after my health - is pride in my children.
I was a frightened, exhausted single mother, sure I was making terrible mistakes. And no question, I WAS making terrible mistakes. But they came through; they survived me, their dad, their schooling that was systematically destroyed, as they went through, by Mike Harris. They grew up in the inner city and went to inner city schools; Anna was viciously attacked by a girl in her schoolyard, Sam robbed near our home and beaten up several times.
They survived and they thrived. And now there's a new generation to celebrate.
It's a cold rainy day - it'll be a wet Nuit Blanche tonight, as the city prepares to unfurl hundreds of artistic displays. I may or may not partake - am at my desk, at work. As usual, my bum hurts from sitting here for so long. But my spirit and my heart, right now, are soaring.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Cheers to all of that! So refreshing and inspiring to read/ hear your positive perspective. Your kiddos obviously have an amazing role model.
ReplyDeleteHope to be half the g/ma you are some day!
Love the blog.
Susan, thank you! I did grow up with a powerful critical voice in my head, my own and my parents', who'd both grown up beset by their own critical voices ... so it was not easy to shut them up. It is a profound shift to be able to celebrate what is wonderful and good in the world and the family, rather than fret about what is not.
ReplyDelete