Don't Lose Sight of What Really Matters

How would you describe the color blue to a person who was blind from birth? It would be difficult. Or even worse, what if it was you that had never seen the color blue! How could you possibly fathom the deep blue sky backdrop of a snow laden mountain or the majestic crystal blue Alaskan glaciers. You would have missed even the simplest of things like your newborn's clear blue eyes.

That is the best way to explain the emotional loss of my mother when I was just a baby. My mother was diagnosed with cancer in her mid-20’s. I’m not sure what she or my father were thinking, because by the time she conceived me, the cancer had spread and she had little hope. I was just 5 months old when she died. (Ironically, Susan my business partner, lost her mother when she was just a child also.) How would you describe to us the love of a mother? I feel like we missed out on something really big, like the “color blue”.

After my mother died, my father remarried and they went on to have two more children. I would watch from a distance as my stepmother loved and cuddled her own children. I remember the parties she had for them as I helped set up and tear down. They were at ease and comfortable, while I was always cautious and nervous. I was a spectator in the house always wondering what it felt like to be loved beyond measure or to be surrounded by love that you take it for granted like the pale blue skies.

Aristotle is credited with the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. And although our daily existence depends on these we take them for granted every second of every day. But Aristotle failed to mention, what I perceive to be our sixth sense, the human heart and the desire to be loved.

Have you been taking love for granted? Do you even begin to fathom the value of a friend who knows you intimately or a sibling who shares your longest connection and history? Do you think you appreciate the man who labors daily beside you? Do you understand how vital your love is in navigating your child through this crazy maze called life? Do you know how precious your mother’s love is? Do you see how blue is the sky?

Take It Home

Don’t lose sight of what really matters. Send a note to your friend. Call your sibling! Kiss your husband. Sit with your child! Have your parents over for dinner (ok that is really just for my kids). And please, please, pause to appreciate your mother this weekend as you would stop to notice the sky!

Happy Mother's Day