If I could pick out just one thing that I wasn’t expecting to come with motherhood, it would be fear.
I never realized how scary everything would become. From driving with the baby in the backseat to seeing news stories of children being hurt or lost and praying that would never happen to me, everything seemed like a land mine and I was tip-toeing through a field of them.
Yet it seems that my greatest fear is the unknown of Fox’s future. Will he be a well-behaved kid? Will he snag a good job? Will he grow up to be happy? Will I have to let him go?
Tyler and I talked the other night about how I can’t wrap my head around the idea of him leaving the state for college, moving across the country, or spending holidays with someone else’s family.
I feel like here’s the part in this post where I should acknowledge that, yes, I know he’s a 1-year-old 😉
Our conversation was triggered by an article I had read on Joey Feek, a strong woman who lost a horrific battle to cancer. Her husband, Rory, came forward and said that their 2-year-old hadn’t asked for her mother since she passed, and he credited that to his wife’s selfless decision to let her husband be the apple of her daughter’s eye. Allowing her husband to step up and be there for her daughter, be her rock and her go-to, she knew she would make the transition a little bit easier on her daughter. Joey, with extreme grace, let go.
It got me thinking about the strong women in my life, and I couldn’t help but think about my mom’s own decision to let go.
I’ve only told her this once – on my wedding day in a handwritten note – how grateful I was that she “released me” to chase dreams and shape a life for myself. I know it was hard for her, but she gave me her blessing to pack up my little car with my cats, my belongings, and a lot of hope, to move from New York to California, where I married my husband and created a beautiful, smart little boy.
There are sacrifices that a mother makes every day (paying the bills, doing the laundry, shuttling to and from dance classes), but being able to let go was exceptionally altruistic. For that reason (and a million other), my mom is my everyday hero.
Knowing how important women all over the world are to their loved ones and beyond, famed photographer Annie Leibovitz launched the UBS x Leibovitz collaborative exhibition in London this past January. WOMEN: New Portraits spotlights the changes in the roles of women today and will travel to 9 additional host cities over the course of the year.
Exhibition cities include the following:
• London
• Tokyo
• San Francisco
• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• Mexico City
• Istanbul
• Frankfurt
• New York
• Zurich
Better yet, Annie and her team are giving away a trip to NYC for 2 to one lucky person that shares their everyday hero. The winner will get to see the November 2016 exhibition in person as well as meet Annie! More information can be found here.
Let me know when you post your everyday hero! I’d love to see the lucky lady of your choosing.
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