Making Peace with my Mother

It has been very healing for me to look back at old photos these last few weeks.

I made peace with my mother years ago. I let go of the childish expectations and grievances I had with her. I learned to accept and love her as she was, which was actually a gift to me - and to my children.

However, there was still a small child-part of me that wondered about the depth of her love for me as a child.

Perhaps I was not ready to see it years ago, when my grandmother gave me the boxes of family pictures. I looked through all but one.

Last week, I opened the box that contained the pictures of me as a young child. Most of the photos were me with my mother. And the look in her eyes said everything I needed to know.

Because now I know her as a person, and I know that the look she gave me, picture after picture, was love and pure adoration.