Sunday, May 12, 2013

 

Sunday Reflection: Creation and Re-Creation


That's my mom, at my college graduation.  She's a remarkable person, and I get to see her (and my dad) in a few weeks.

There is something unusual about parents:  We don't have a chance to meet them until they are adults.  My first memories of my parents are from the years that they were in their mid-30's.  For a long time, I kind of assumed that their lives began then.

Over time, though, I started to understand how wrong that was-- that my mother was also a daughter, and that who she is has been shaped by that.  Some of the attributes that define her to me-- her wit, her gentle nature, her incisive intelligence-- were molded in places I struggle to understand, and that all happened before we had the opportunity to meet one another.  For example, as a girl she lived in a time when a generation of men left to fight in World War II, and the women left behind had to re-shape not only their lives but their communities and even American industry to fit that reality.   I have never been through anything like that, but sometimes I glimpse the strength and sense of community that come from that time.

Too often, we see the people we love as static beings; we imagine that they have always been and always will be the way they are today.  There is a loss in that, of course... a failure to see growth and struggle, but also a loss in the ability to empathize and understand.  My mom now is a wonderful person, but a different one than the person in the picture above, or who held me the moment after I was born.   There is a continuity, sure, but also an evolution of the soul that I can only marvel at.

God creates us, then we re-create ourselves.  It is a fascinating and wonderful thing to see in those we love the most.

Comments:
How lovely. Thank you for sharing. The wonder of imagining your parent as a stranger continues to engage me as well. I think this idea is one reason why children (or at least me!) enjoy looking at old photos of their parents and asking questions about their parents' childhoods. First, children realize that their parents were once children too. Then, once the children have grown up, they realize how differently their parents may have been when they were growing up.
 
Love this.
 
lovely words for your lovely Mom
 
Brilliant! I always love this picture of your mom.
 
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