"This wisdom, that to fly requires chaotic, sometimes even violent passages, becomes a metaphor for all of life's most meaningful endeavors, particularly the great flight that is parenting".
How many complete memories do you really have from your childhood? When I think back on all those years I spent growing up I realize how few things I truly remember. I think about all of the diaries and journals that I started, only to quickly abandon within a few weeks or even days. I have a small collection of photos, but not many words to go with them. When I became a mother I thought "how hard can it be to remember the really important things?" and didn't bother to write much down in Kyle's baby book. Now I find myself looking back at photos from the first two years of his life to try and piece together the order that his teeth are coming in so that I can write it in his book. You may find yourself asking "Teeth? Is this something that is really that important?" It is when you can't remember.
Maybe it is the fact that little darling #2 is going to be joining our family in about 3 weeks, but I have been thinking more and more about the little things that I don't want to forget about Kyle as he grows up. If it is this hard to remember wonderful little memories about one child, what's going to happen with 2 children? Or 3 children (gulp)??
"Lift" by Kelly Corrigan is a beautifully written, easy to read story of the road that lead to one mother's desire for her children not only to have more memories from the fleeting days of childhood, but an understanding of who their parents were before they were parents. It has inspired me to quit procrastinating keeping track of the little things like teeth and how I felt the first time Kyle called me Mom-mom and it really meant something to him. There is no time like the present, and with our second baby coming in a few weeks this is the perfect time to begin the most important journal of my life ~ the journal of my family's life!
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