I like to think I’m an optimist. At the very least, I’d almost always answer that the glass is half full if asked.
In August, our cup at Mamalode was not just full, it overflowed. We had the privilege of publishing story after story that proved that being optimistic isn’t always that hard, and that even in the worst of situations, Life Is always Good.
Here are a few of my favorite moments from this, the final month of summer.
“Skinned knees and wild hair. If you were a perfume that is what I would name you. The scent would be of the sweetest season of childhood. The perfect blend of suntan lotion, melted ice cream and summer rain. When people would spritz it on their wrists they would feel… free. Free of worry. Free of care. Free of feet touching the ground.” – Katie Moore, Skinned Knees and Wild Hair
“How do we come together the morning after? The morning after a fight. The morning after I criticize you, or you me. The morning after insults are hurled and accusations are made. The morning after I tell you I don’t love you. The morning after I ask for a divorce.” – Kim Zapata, Aftermath
“I've just begun reading Marina Keegan's book The Opposite of Loneliness. The question hangs in the air over the book, who would she have become? I'm left wondering who I've become since turning twenty-two.
There is time for us all then. Time to be amazing young women, time to discover, time to take chances, to write, to make art, fall in love, fall out of love, time to mother, care for someone else, find a new career, make a difference, make a mark. It is not over. It is never over.” – Jennifer Groeber, How You Measure Half a Life
“On the drive home I will cry. Uncontrollably. I will mourn for the passing of time. My baby is moving on, growing up. Yes I’ll be sad that she’s leaving, but I know that some of them will be happy tears for the bright and amazing future that’s ahead of her.” – Teri Biebel, Roots and Wings
“What I want to say to the specialist about my daughter is this: She stutters so badly, and she starts preschool next month. Can you fix it? Can you make them be patient, help them understand her? Can you promise they will be kind? What if she tries to say something that the teacher doesn't understand? What if kids are mean? Can you make the world love her like I do, make them see what they've got?” – Jessica Burdg, She Stutters
– Julia Arnold, Parenting Like A Chimpanzee
“A hand so small—a hand that grew inside me, in that sacred space where you and I first shared the gift of life. A hand that, now fully formed, continues to share that gift with me every day.
A hand that is a literal extension of the perfect person my body created, and a figurative extension of myself.
Sometimes, I marvel at the irony of its smallness, wondering how a hand so small can hold so much.” – Samantha Wassel, That A Hand So Small Can Hold So Much
“That’s what mothers do, after all. That’s what mothers are. We are not all optimists in the cheery, rainbow sense. We are optimists when it comes to our own ability to endure.” – Katherine Stanely Obando, Why My Miscarriage Made Me A Mom
“Like a breath, we are here, and like a breath, we will leave. There is more than my circumstances. There is more than problems. There is more than heartache. There is a world filled with beauty and joy and things beyond my imagination, and beyond that, there is even more.” – Lexi Behrndt, There Is More
“Don't get me wrong, there were things I loved about breastfeeding and, I think, I still would have done it, but I would have stopped sooner. I would have stopped when holding Amelia felt like a burden.” – Kim Zapata, Bearing It All
“What brings each of us joy will be different from the next person, but we are responsible for finding our own. There are good days and bad days. Some days I find frustrating, some days I find exhausting, and many days I just find a glass of wine. But every day, at least once, I find joy…and it has made all the difference.” – Keenan McGrath, Finding Joy Makes All The Difference
Thanks for an amazing summer Mamaloders!
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