Today is our first Mothers’ Day without Ryma, the mother of my precious girls.
The picture above comes from another time, a time when there wasn’t a camera in every phone, nor–for that matter–a phone in every hand. Pictures were rarer then, and all the more precious for it.
I love glimpses like these into Ryma’s life, her childhood, school years, and young adulthood. It helps me get to know the girl I never knew in person, who grew up to be the the incredible woman that I do know.
The picture above is one of my favorites, but it occurs to me today that it also paints an incredible picture of motherhood. Ryma is held in the arms of her mother’s friend (on the right), and Ryma’s mother holds a child of the other (on the left). The three children are now mothers themselves and still friends (according to Facebook), as are the mothers in the photo. Motherhood spans generations, and it bonds and spans families. I think love is the foundation of motherhood, and in that it even spans death.
Ryma had an awesome mother who raised 4 children, and Ryma herself was an awesome mother who raised 2 daughters. I have no doubt that they in turn, will be awesome mothers when and if they choose that path, because they had an awesome mother and grandmother.
The complement to motherhood, of course, is fatherhood. I have some thoughts on that too, but think I’ll save them for Fathers’ Day. Today is about mothers, and this post about Ryma in particular.
Below is another one of my favorite pictures of Ryma and her mom from many years ago, and below that a couple more recent photos of all three generations. Ryma never met my mother in this life, but I’m sure they’ve met now, so below these other pictures is a little homage to my mother.
