Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, GG!

A couple of generations ago a baby girl was born. Her parents named her Gail. She grew and grew and welcomed five brothers and sisters to her tribe. Eventually, her siblings dubbed her “sister-mother” and joked that her daughterly perfection was the reason for their very existence.

Gail went off to college to study art. She sunbathed on rooftops and drank beer with her classmates. She met a red-haired boy in a college bar and fell in love. They wrote letters to one another and addressed them to various rooms in their apartment: “Dear Gail, in the kitchen, from John, in the living room.”

A few years into marriage they welcomed a baby girl of their own. They named her Jennifer. Gail became a mother as John became a lawyer. Life got complicated. And more beautiful. All at the same time.

Gail delivered two more children, Justin and Sarah. Life got more complicated and more beautiful. It was busy and chaotic, but full of love and laughter. It was motherhood.

She became the world’s greatest teacher, she sang silly songs in the car, she weathered the waves of her children–rising with them and falling with them. And then, unexpectedly, she weathered the death of her husband.

Life pushed forth and along came nine grandchildren in seven years. Gail finally acquired a nickname, something she had always desired. She was now known as GG. And it has proven to be the most important name of all.

I love my mama. I love gazing at these old pictures of her. I love piecing together the life that she’s led, knowing that she has confronted many of the same struggles that I deal with now. Knowing that our connection to one another is more than blood and eye color and jawline. We have our motherhood. It is such a large part of what defines us both.

But there is so much more. My mom and I can talk for hours about life, and the constant search for something more than what we have or know right now. I call her for no good reason at all. I trust her with my secrets, my successes, and my fears. I know how lucky I am and I don’t ever forget it.

Happy Birthday Mom. You are beautiful. Then, now, inside and outside.

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