Happy Mother's Day

Growing up, Mother’s Day was simple. It was a day to celebrate your mother. We’d wake up excited to give her the cheesy gift we made at school and she pretended to love it. Then we’d go to church, pot a plant or something and hand that off to her again. She’d smile and thank us all while wishing we’d help her clean the house once we got home. 

Mom’s are worth celebrating. They do so much to ensure their children’s well being while their children do not even notice most of it. They play the roles of taxi driver, cheerleader, cook, nurse, maid, friend, and so on. 

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom (and my grandma).

But, I grew up and even though I still love my mom and my mom is still very much worth celebrating, Mother’s Day brought on new meanings. 

Now I get to play the role of mom.

But I do it to children who first had a mom that they no longer get to be with and that breaks my heart every day. 

Since being in the foster parent role, I have gotten to care for 12 children as if they were my own. 

Eleven Haitian mothers birthed my children. Only one is living that we know of. I am so thankful for each of the lives that gave birth to my children—some of them even giving their own lives as a result. My children would not be here without those wonderful women who cared for these kids, some only while in the womb and others a couple of years. 

For 11 of these 12 children they will not have any memories or pictures with their mothers. They don’t have stories told by other family members. For many of them, their beginning is so much of a mystery. For this, my heart hurts for them. 

Sometimes I wonder who they got their facial features from or if their laugh sounds just like someone else’s. I’ve wondered if their mothers are still alive if they think about these children that they selflessly left in hopes of a better life. I wonder if they would be proud of who they are becoming.  I wish I could tell them all the stories of how amazing their kids are. 

Even though it isn’t yet Haitian Mother’s Day, Happy Mother’s Day to each of you birth mothers. 

I play the role of mom to children who will one day call someone else mom. We pray every day that this will be sooner than later. That one day, they will no longer have to say goodbye to those they learn to trust.  

To the four moms who get to celebrate mother’s day with all of their children, Happy Mother’s Day. It was such a privilege to get to love your kids for a short time.

I can’t imagine living in another country, waiting for the day you can come take your child home with you. That wait is brutal. It is such an honor to care for these children while their parents wait longingly for the day they can officially be a whole family.

To the moms in that agonizing waiting stage feeling like you are forced to run a marathon at a snail’s pace just to bring your child home, Happy Mother’s Day. The privilege of caring for your child today is not lost. 

To the mom’s who don’t yet know which child is theirs, Happy Mother’s Day. It is a privilege to care for your child until you are united.

To the mom’s who don’t yet know we are caring for your child, Happy Mother’s Day (and get started on the process). 

I’ve also learned a new appreciation for another set of great mothers; the ones who no longer have their child on this earth. The ones who can’t get a phone call, can’t look at pictures, can’t get cheesy gifts, or can’t hug their child.

To the moms who the world sometimes forgets about, but live with the grief and missing piece of your heart everyday, Happy Mother’s Day. 

Five of my children now get to call someone mom. We pray every day that the six still in my care will one day soon be able to do the same. 

Happy Mother’s Day Moms! No matter how you became a mom or how long you actively got to be a mother—Thank you!