My son, Matt
Have you ever received a gift from someone you love that absolutely takes your breath away?
Has this gift helped to ease years of the pain you felt over something you had to do, but has haunted you ever since you did it?
Have you ever received the gift of absolute love and understanding?
This Christmas I received a gift that did all that and more, and moved me to tears. My youngest son, Matt, gave me a scrapbook he had made, a scrapbook filled with pictures of me, my sons, and my husband. It was filled with quotes and one in particular brought home to me just how much he understands my pain:
“Children and Mothers never truly part – Bound in the beating of each other’s heart” — Charlotte Gray
I keep re-reading this book of love and acceptance, and each time I do, I am moved once again to tears. Many, many years ago, my then spiritual teacher told me as I cried upon sitting in front of him, “Don’t hold back the tears; tears open your heart”. My heart is bursting open with love and gratitude for the gift this scrapbook has brought to me.
Thank you, Matthew, for showing me such love and understanding.
© 2009, Taru Fisher. All rights reserved.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a beautiful little blog piece, Taru. I love what you say about tears and keeping one’s heart open. You are an inspiration!
Carol
My spiritual teacher told me many years ago (30+ and counting) that crying opens the heart, so don’t hold back the tears. That is certainly true for me.
what a happy post, Taru, i loved it. as a rule, i haven’t acquired many ‘things’ in my life, i don’t want to the baggage! but i do have a few objects that are very dear to me and all of them are related to either beauty/art or family/memories.
my most prized two possessions are both gifts from my precious daughter: the second is a scrapbook of a summer that we spent together in Europe when she was ten, much like your gift. the first is a simple collage of images, poems and pictures and original poetry that link our lives together.
i’m so happy that you received this record of love from your son! t.
Tushar –
Your precious daughter is your greatest gift; she’s a rare beauty in every sense of the word.
I would love to share my son’s gift with you and others, so I have a project to photograph the pages and post some (or all) of them to this blog.
I truly believe that not taking relationships for granted is so critical to staying young! Great story Taru – would love for you to write a chapter for our books!
Ann Evanston
Warrior Women Wine and Wisdom
I couldn’t agree more. Relationships matter, and especially as we grow into elders. Much of our past comes into perspective and, if we’ve become wiser, we can see it clearly from all the points of view.
I’d love to write a chapter; I’m honored you asked me!