for mothers

Lately I've been looking at old photos. I stare into the faces of my grandmothers, my mom and my mother-in-law and think about motherhood. Why we do it. How we deal with it. How it makes us.

Mothers

You are

the you you used to be

the you you could have been

the you you will never be

the you you feared you would become

the you you could still be

You are the person others see and the person you see in your mind's eye

You are the life you live out loud

and

the inner life no one will ever know

You are your childhood

You are your imperfect memories

You are the stories you were told and the stories no one would tell and the stories you tell others

You are the things you think you know and the lessons you never learned

You are the places you've been and the places you go in your mind

You are the art on your walls

You are the flowers in your garden

You are the song in your heart

You are the tears you cry when no one hears

You are the dreams you lived and the dreams that died and the dreams that may still come true

You are your hopes and fears for your children

You are everything your mother taught you 

You are everything you teach your children, whether you mean to or not

You are in every breath they take and every choice they make.

Sometimes... 

you feel that you are nothing to anyone

But always...

you are everything to someone.