About Guest Blogger
Pop in when you have a few spare moments for a cosy chat. Read about real-mom experiences and contribute your own slices of life at our Drop-In Centre.
My Daughters' History
drop-in centre canada
(Aug.18.10)
Planted on our living room couch, tucked under my arm is my tenacious three-year-old. Her younger sister is waddling around the room playing with her trains. The room is lit with the warm summer sun. It’s opposite to what I feel in my heart.
My older daughter and I are flipping through my baby books. For every page she asks who each person is in the pictures.
“Who is that?” she asks for the 100th time.
“That is me when I was your age and my mommy.” I state.
“Oh. Grandma Patricia.” She nods in understanding.
“Yes.” I barely get out my answer with tears caught in my throat.
When I was 10-years-old, my mom died of breast cancer at the age of thirty-eight. I am very fortunate to have had both my grandmas in most of my life. Both have since died of old age. With every playdate or park trip, my grief over my mom bubbles to the surface as I see my girls watching grandmas with their grandchildren. Their curiosity over the women is hard to miss.
My youngest toddles over to the couch to join us. Her older sister shows her pictures in the book and tells her who each one is there.
“…and that is Grandma Patricia, Mommy’s mommy. We have a part of her name so she can watch us in heaven.” My one-year-old looks up at her big sister, captivated by the words.
Cuddling with my girls on a warm sunny day breaks me out of my sad nostalgia over my childhood history. We all have history. These pictures, and the stories I write, scrapbook the memories that I make with my daughters. Unlike my mother, I am here to keep making history as we live it.
This is the third of four Drop-In Centre guest posts by Danielle Christopher. (Read previous entries Nice Things and Not So Sweet). Check back next Wednesday for the final post from this SweetMama.
Danielle Christopher is a stay-at-home mom of one- and three-year-old daughters. Her writing can be seen at www.justdworld.wordpress.com and at The Momoir Project, where she's on the Media Team. She lives with her husband of 17 years and their girls in Langley, BC.
