When my daughter was three, she started every morning by catapulting into my bed and diving under the blankets. She informed me, “I sleep good, Mama.”

She loved me with such intensity. “I’ll eat you up, I love you so!” we would giggle, quoting her favorite book (Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak). Later in the morning, she always wanted coffee in her tiny pink teacup, “Just like you!” 

Isn’t parenthood incredible? It never stops astonishing me how these little people change and grow and how we are blessed to watch them do it. I’ve always loved each version of my kids as they’ve grown up into young adults.

My daughter is 15 now. And it is still a marvelous thing to be her mama. Motherhood, with all its trials and strains, is a joy, especially in the little, everyday moments.

Today, as we remember and thank the women who had a hand in raising us up as children … those who nurtured and protected us … cooked for us and wiped away our tears … may we use those warm memories to guide us forward as we find others who may need us to nurture, lead, and protect them.

“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them” (Deuteronomy 4:9).