Acknowledging Different Types Of Mothers:

To those who gave birth this year to their first child — we celebrate with you
 
 To those who lost a child this year — we mourn with you
 
 To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains — we appreciate you
 
 To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away — we mourn with you
 
 To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment — we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.
 
 To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms — we need you
 
 To those who have warm and close relationships with your children — we celebrate with you
 
 To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children — we sit with you
 
 To those who lost their mothers this year — we grieve with you
 
 To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother — we acknowledge your experience
 
 To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood — we are better for having you in our midst
 
 To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children — we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be
 
 To those who step-parent — we walk with you on these complex paths
 
 To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you
 
 To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year — we grieve and rejoice with you
 
 To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart
 
 And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you
 
 This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.