Give Mom a Gift that is a Gift to Many
I have been fortunate. My life has been a door that has welcomed so many wonderful friends. Narrowing it down is the challenge; one woman who has helped me? I’d like to believe that women are natural nurturers and that they respond without being asked that love is all they know. Of course, the world is not drizzled with glitter and unicorns, but a few people make the rainbow more obvious.
One of those people is Tanya. I haven’t seen her since perhaps 1995. I was young when I met her, 19, married and expecting my first child. I remember that day when Tanya entered my life. She was assigned to be my Visiting Teacher.
My perception until Tanya was “no thanks”. I didn’t want to be an assignment or duty. I preferred friend over obligation. I lived in Miami, and when the knock came on the door, I took a deep breath and thought, “let’s just get this over with,” and answered the door.
On the other side was a tall, thin woman, also pregnant. She had the longest hair I’ve ever seen pulled back into a ponytail. It was blonde. She spoke softly, and immediately I liked her. She was perhaps a few years older than me and, like me, from Utah.
She didn’t stay long. We talked about our due dates, just six weeks apart. I shared my terror of delivery with her. She left, and I felt wonderful for having met her.
A few days later, she arrived again with a video of childbirth. It was a thoughtful gesture.
These two meetings were the beginning of a friendship that I have treasured now for 21 years. We each had boys that year. Her son complimented her daughter and looked just like his mom! Mine was my first and looked like me.
Through the years, we spent hours on the phone venting about politics, people who we shared an admiration for as well as those who we wished were more like us. She took my children for play dates that they continue to talk about, and she makes the best sugar cookies on the planet!
She is the most incredible animal lover, always with a new dog she had just rescued, and children love her almost as much as she loves them. She’s crafty and always has a creative activity in the works.
Thanks to Facebook, I’ve reconnected with this woman I hold near and dear to my heart. She is still the same amazing woman I aspired to resemble as a parent, human, and woman. We still have different political views, but we don’t let it stop us from loving who the other person is through and through.
Tanya was my ear of love. I could vent to her about anything. She didn’t judge. She didn’t always take my side. She debated with sincerity and love and more times than not left me thinking about my thought, opinion, or idea in a new light that made me better.
She is an amazing woman who is strong and beautiful and holds more love in her soul than any other person I’ve encountered. I am so fortunate that I was blessed that day when my name was assigned to her.
Heart for Haiti is a project that helps other women, much in the same way Tanya helped me grow and learn to love. Purchasing through Macy’s gives women in Haiti the opportunity to build a business and care for their family.
