~ mothering {that fine art}.. .

{Post In Progress!}

sneaking photos here & there, she isn't that fond of photos, also grumpy sister for getting her in the shot some 4 years ago.. .sorry!!!

.. .

One of the things Mum is very good at is reading newspapers, The New York Times, London Times, Irish Times, Deseret News etc,

& it always comes back to children who need mothering.. .

whether it be the foster children who can't be placed {never enough homes} etc etc,

she is always very concerned about the act & art of mothering & we tend to discuss ways we can help for hours afterward.. .

When i was young i always wanted to grow up, &, like Mum, be married at 19 & have children ~

& although 19 came & went quite some years ago, i now realize there have been so many moments of mothering,

sitting in hospitals singing lullabies to a teenager {after bringing her Mum's warm home cooked meals}, getting texts from Mum at 11pm saying she needs me to drive her or take my brother & help someone on the streets in need ~ or the Summer when we lived in suburban Blue Springs {Missouri} in a very family oriented cul de sac & every afternoon all the kids would gather in the vacant lot to play {volleyball, tetherball, sprinkler fun, or slippy water slides, anything we could find or forage}, it was my mother who encouraged me to ask the Mom of a disabled neighbor if i could wheel her out to play with us every afternoon.. .she couldn't stay for long, but how much she loved to be included & how much she enriched those afternoons for all of us! 

When we lived in Brisbane our family sort of adopted an Aboriginal guy from Queen St Mall after one day, i saw him going through bins & {not wanting to insult him}held out a five dollar bill & asked him if he dropped it. Dearly, he patted his back pockets & said "ah, nah" but when i asked if he wanted it he gleefully almost skipped off down the street holding it carefully. After that, we were the family who would ask him if he dropped $5, & after a while, he knew us individually & would come up to any one of us ~ i would often get reports from my Dad or brother that he would come up to them just as they were looking through their wallet for $5.. .

We really never know the backstory of those in need, or the future they can aspire too,

but i think so many good things 

begin with a little bit of mothering

<3

There is a quote i once heard {by Abraham Lincoln?} but can't find that goes something like,

When all is said & done, Will history be decided in the fiery aftermath of battlefields or gently, by a mother's consistent, tender love.. .Mother On Lovelies!