A Mother's Moment

About 2 weeks ago I had a real mother's moment. But first a little background.

Dorothy was a woman I knew in my teenage years. Her daughter, Christine, and I became friends through the church youth group. Dorothy took attendance. She was a faithful Catholic and a mother of ten. Christine was her youngest. I also became close for a time with two of her other daughters, Eileen and Caroline. Shortly after I graduated from college, Dorothy passed away. I recently reconnected with Christine online and we had been sharing pictures and stories of our children and families now.

So, back to the present day, about two weeks ago, I was home with the kids on a Saturday, alone, as I usually am on those days. Someone was crying, someone was having a temper tantrum, and this had been going on for the better part of about 45 minutes. This was after a fairly trying morning that had included a child feeding a dog off of a spoon that she refused to use to feed herself, another child hitting his sister hard enough to leave a mark, and a delivery man coming to the door which had caused dogs and children alike to go bonkers. In the middle of it all I said outloud, "Dorothy, I don't know how you did this ten times!"

Suddenly, I heard Dorothy's voice, clear as day, "They're only this young once. Just love them and enjoy them." It was so clear and real I turned in the direction I heard it but, of course, she wasn't there. I looked down at the two squalling toddlers at my feet. I felt my eyes tear up and a lump in my throat. I knelt down and scooped up the baby in one arm and coralled the two-year-old to me with the other. I just held them and we sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star a couple of times. The crying began to subside. The temper was cooling and the two-year-old was now cuddling. I looked up at the cross hanging on the bedroom wall and whispered, "Thank you Dorothy, your intercession was just what I needed!"