Dear sister-mom
We have never met but I call you sister, because our womanhood connects us all over the world in many different ways. My heart and spirit reaches out to sit with you, to hold you gently if you need a soft place to rest. You and your beautiful new baby deserve to take your time, wherever you may be to do just that – simply be. Breathe with me, deeply and slowly. Honour yourself for the journey of pregnancy you have come through, perhaps not for the first time, but each time is as unique as the seed that took root in your womb, as unique as you are. Even if we are part of an ever-expanding web of millions and millions of mothers, our stories of birth and motherhood matter and on this Mother’s Day in May 2020 – I celebrate your strength and the immeasurable power within you.
I am a 48 year-old mother of three sons between the ages of 16 and 29 and a daughter who was stillborn 17 years ago. I was a teen mother straight out of high school and many years later that same firstborn son announced on my 40th birthday he was becoming a father, so I am a proud gogo of a 9 year-old grandson too. Like you, motherhood has reshaped and grown me. It is not all of me but definitely a precious and central part of my identity. I see it as an everyday miracle still weaving its way through my life, through the treasure of my children, even if their births are so far down the path compared to where you are here and now. Our children come to stretch us literally of course and more importantly, in heart and mind. Over time they teach us so much about ourselves and often, what we thought was impossible we find a way to do, because of them.
I wish you a motherhood journey of love, laughter, beauty, courage, hope and deep gratitude for the lessons and rewards that come from it one way or another. Remember you were destined to be the mother of this child and they were destined to be in your life and to be born at this time.
Stay well, ask for what you need and trust yourself!
Much love,
Malika Ndlovu