All I Want For Christmas
Mom, I Want to Hear Your Story
My boys have always had a way of knowing exactly what to get me for Christmas. Even as children, it was never about the item itself, but about the feelings it would invoke.
Often they will send me books they are reading or have read. In the past I’ve received chocolates and an ornament from the city where I was born. This year was no different.
Some background…
My boys, identical twins, were a relatively rare, high-risk type of twin pregnancy. From about 12 weeks into the pregnancy, the doctors understood that there was a very high risk that either one or both may not survive. Thankfully, the pregnancy went well and they are healthy grown men now.
As babies, I started a journal for each of them, a “mother’s journal”, to share my thoughts and record moments of their lives as they grew. After their dad and I divorced, when they were 12, they went to live with him. I still wrote in the journals on occasion, but not as often.
My plan was to give them these journals when they turned 18. For whatever reason, I didn’t. Then I thought maybe 21 would be a good age. I didn’t. A couple of years ago, I sent them a bunch of old pictures and items from their early years, including the journals.
Fast forward to last week…
As per tradition, I received a box from Amazon with a book in it. When I opened it, I almost started crying. It was a journal titled, “Mom, I Want to Hear Your Story: A Mother’s Guided Journal To Share Her Life & Her Love”. It’s filled with prompts to write about my childhood, my memories, my life events and the feelings around them.
There are a lot of things I’ve done in my life that I haven’t had the opportunity to share with my boys. And a lot of things I decided I wouldn’t share until they were older (maybe in hopes they wouldn’t get any crazy ideas!) By the time they were old enough to hear about some of my adventures, they were living in another state and busy with college, work, and life… as was I.
Now is the time.
Now it’s time to document my life for them. Maybe they will get some laughs, probably a few eye rolls, and maybe it will give them a better understanding of who I am and my life’s journey. Either way, I’m anticipating some interesting memories and feelings surfacing as I dive into this journal over the next few months. And, I anticipate some of those memories and lessons will show up here in the near future as well.
What are some of your favorite memories from your past? I’d love to hear them! Any you’ve kept secret but are now ready to share? Here is a space for you…