“It is the journey that matters in the end.” — Ursula LeGuin

Becoming a mother completely changed my life. For many years, I wanted a family, and, when I finally became a mother, I wasn’t prepared for the life that role would produce. Can anyone ever prepare themselves for an experience that is so transformational? I only knew what I saw through  friends, family, the media, and  my own imagination of what motherhood would be. I imagined something perfect and put-together. What I lived was something entirely different. It was messy, out of control, exhausting, fun, creative, and transformational. As a result of the process of “mothering,” I grew to become a more loving, conscious human being. I was moved along my path to learn about acceptance, peace, and vulnerability. I came to realize the essence of Harry Truman’s desk sign, “The buck stops here.” Today, my daughters are grown, forging lives and families of their own. I catch myself wanting to take responsibility for them, and, sometimes do, only to be reminded by them or some other circumstance that it isn’t my place any more. Perhaps for me, this “letting go” is a process. I am ever-grateful to my daughters for coming into my life and serving as two of my greatest teachers. My heart knew all along what it needed, and it found the perfect people in the end.