Warrior Mothers

Wikipedia has many meanings of the word "Warrior" but I liked this one the best: "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness,..."


I am always in awe of  Warrior mothers. Women who spend their day serving and tending to their children's needs and extra needs. I understand and speak the language when it comes to "extra," but it is very mild compared to these Mothers. These mothers I learn and grow from.   


Not too long ago I witnessed a Mother and her teenage son on a walk in the Nature Center. Every few seconds this sweet son would shout loud outbursts and then clap or bang his head with his hands. This dear mother stayed calm as they continued on their walk. I whispered to myself "warrior mother."


For months and months a beautiful mother I know has tended to her daughter's health needs. Never quite sure what the real diagnosis is. In and out of the hospital, weeks at a time. Doctors are baffled as this sweet little girl just longs for her health and childhood back but they just can't pinpoint the answer or cure. This mother is her advocate, her nurse, her support, her warrior mother. 


Daily I watch a dear friend tend to her daughter who is non verbal. She is her voice. She has a gift to understand and know what her daughter is saying just by looking in her eyes. I witness this miracle in awe. Not only is this dear mother her daughter's voice, but often her legs and her arms too. I am blessed and I strive to be a better person because of this warrior mother's daily example to me.


There are what I often think of as the Queen Warrior Mothers. These women who long to have a baby in their arms to rock and love and mother. These women long and fight and give their all to bring a baby into their home. These women take my breath away because I can't imagine that type of fight. It takes a warrior. Then there are Birth mothers, who are Queen Warrior Mothers as well. Giving their child a better home and future because they are unable to at that time. A beautiful and selfless gift. A mother giving a mother a motherhood. Warrior Women indeed.


Then there is another Warrior Mother. Mothers who had to send their babies home to heaven early, leaving them with empty arms.
I bow to these mothers.
How they put one foot in front of the other, I do not know. I believe only by the tender love of God are they able to get through each day as they long to be reunited with their child once again. The experience of loosing a child turns a woman into a warrior. 


Each of these women have to put on amour each day, as a true warrior does. They have to protect themselves and their children. It is a protection when having to deal with the stares, questions, doctors, insurances, schools and more. It is a protection against the hurt and ache that often comes with the role of "Warrior Mother."


To the Warrior Mothers I know and love to the ones I have not met personally, I love you. I learn from you. You teach me every day through your beautiful examples. 


To you, I say thank you. Thank you for teaching me patience. Thank you for teaching me perspective.