Monday, November 29, 2010
A Decade With Liam
I have three sons. People often comment, when the boys are together, that they all look alike. I ponder this and silently disagree. As their mother, I view them through the eyes of my spirit- and it is through those eyes that I see the depths of their personalities- how each one was woven by God to be unique and gifted in their own way. My first son arrived three years and four days behind his sister Lily. I'd been expecting another girl. During labor, I talked to my belly, encouraging it to be kind to me, "Maggie- its mommy- you can do this babe...let's make this a quick one..." And perhaps, out of annoyance for my lack of androgyny, he sat in my birth canal until I nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Seventeen hours and twenty three minutes after my water broke, I helped to ease him forth, into this world, and was shocked to discover a beautiful baby with the biggest testicles I'd ever seen (who will one day either love me for boasting of this or be completely mortified that I chose to announce such a thing on the web). A boy. Liam Michael Cleveland .
The first year was a bit rough, trudging through the muck that is food allergies and related ear infections, until I was eating only about five different foods so that my milk would be tolerable to his sensitive digestive tract. (Proof that a mother's love can endure most anything). Shortly thereafter, he was such a joy that his semi-retarded parents made the hasty decision that a third baby would be a great way to mix things up. Silly us. But that's a story for another month- another boy.  |
| My husband's traditional gift to each of our children, upon rising on their birthday, a breakfast item in the shape of their age. This year, as you can see, we slummed it a bit with the frozen waffles. But an honor nonetheless. |
Right from the start, Liam was an "old soul." You could see in his eyes that he embodied the wisdom of a thousand years. At a conference, when he was in preschool, his teachers proclaimed that he was the most intuitive child they'd ever encountered- he just seemed to know how other children were feeling and how to help them when they were angry or sad. And today, this ten year-old is just as he was then- mature beyond his years- carrying a sixth sense in the shadows where he often works, shying away from the center of attention, preferring to stand cautiously in the background, taking in all of the world around him,while weaving with his stunning attention to detail, a web full of creativity and remarkable compassion. He holds the mind of an inventor, an engineer of spectacular objects and story lines. Liam is an artist, a lacrosse player, and a loyal friend, brother, and amazing child of mine. I cannot imagine my world without him. That I lived thirty years without his presence is mind-boggling. While there were indeed times, some years back, maybe around age two or three or four, when I envisioned him a serial killer, he has left those tendencies behind to be embraced by a younger sibling, who will go unnamed for now.
Happy 10th Birthday to you, Liam, a most treasured boy, for whom I hold hopes for a future of splendor- of endless possibilities and continued strength to forge a path capable of holding all of your dreams and the perseverance to see them to fruition. "I love you more than you love me...", every minute of every day.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
A Letter To My Teenager
In just a few short hours you will make a grand entrance into adolescence, with all of your intellect and beauty surrounding you. You are wise beyond your years, and a spirit unmatched by anyone I've ever met. The pride I take in being your mother is unfathomable- as you glide through your days with such grace and fortitude. There are countless moments when I marvel that a young woman such as you could have developed within my being and burst forth with so much potential- so much to offer the world....
At the start of the school year, this year, you had to write a piece about something you'd accomplished....and I watched, bewildered, as you struggled to name something- those which I can see so clearly as gifts of your spirit which set you apart- make you the wonder that you are. You wrote about modeling for Martha Stewart, back in kindergarten, and I hung my head....because, while that certainly is an interesting piece of trivia about your life, thus far, it says nothing of your brilliance- how everything you strive to do, you do with such passion and fervor, always giving your best. You don't recognize the gift you have at creating masterpieces with your writing and with your amazing culinary skills- all the cakes and pies you bake from scratch- with every last detail given all of your attention.
I sometimes sit back and stare at you- trying to absorb this daughter whom I love so intensely- love I could not imagine before they placed you in my arms and I memorized every detail of your face- how familiar you looked-how miraculous your life was to me. And every day of your life, since then, how I've ached for you, longed to be with you, poured all of my finest work into nurturing you.
I have often said that you are a girl I would have wanted as a best friend when I was your age. And you are a girl that I want for my daughter always. No matter what.
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| Lily baking her homemade macaroni and cheese for Thanksgiving |
As you celebrate your thirteenth year on this earth, my hopes for you are that you remain true to yourself, to your dreams. Don't settle for second rate anything. And know that your mother is wildly imperfect but loves you to the moon and back and there is nothing you could do better to make me love you any more than I already do.
Love,
Mama
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About Me
- Judy Sombar
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- Forty-three year-old, mother and staunch advocate of four young children, passionate warrior of truth and self, finding the soul in each day, sharing my struggles and triumphs as I live them. Mostly I do this for me, so my thoughts don't race as much at night as they used to. But I also give this to those of you who need to know, in any or every way, that you are not alone.
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