Operating Instructions #2

A bit more from Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott:


"One night I was feeling devastated by the thought of the hole in my son's life because he wouldn't have a Dad-how much that was probably going to hurt and how I wasn't going to be able to do much about it. Then my friend Larry called and reminded me that I was just an opening for Sam to come into the world--that I wasn't supposed to be a drug for him. I was just supposed to be his mother.


Sam was meant to be born into the world exactly the way it is--into these exact circumstances-- even if that meant not having a dad or an ozone layer--even if it included pets who would die and acne and seventh grade dances and AIDS. He simply wasn't meant to be born in the paradise behind the mountains. "

This quote literally rocks my world. I feel the burden of responsibility to my daughters-- that I am supposed to protect them from all pain or mystery or hurt. (and I am certain I will try) But perhaps in the end it is not meant for me to be their grantor of perfection.

No-I am their mother.

I am a portal, a door through which they will enter into the world. What a divine experience.