Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Butterfly

Found this on Scrapscene and really liked it.

Life Muses by Ro: Hope From a Cell Phone
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. – Anonymous
Julianne held her cell phone in her lap as she drove and instinctively, I reached over and took it from her.
“No cell phone.”
She rolled her eyes.
As I held it in my hands, I was surprised that her welcome screen, which usually held photos of her friends, held this lovely quote.
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly,” I read to her. “That’s nice.”
“I love it,” she smiled. “It means a lot to me.”
I looked at her and realized that my little girl is growing up. I have seen signs for months that the butterfly was emerging from her cocoon. She has discovered that she is intelligent. School is easy for her, now that she is attending every class. She is eager to go to school activities and squeeze every available memory from this very important senior year. She is making new, better friends, smiling in a genuine way and sharing the small details of her life with me.
My little girl is becoming a young woman. A year ago, she thought the world was over, but now – just like the caterpillar - she is beginning to fly.
She will find, as she continues through her life, that each stage brings new opportunities to grow, change and find herself. There will be many times when she will think her life is over. But, as she pushes through those times, she will re-emerge stronger, more beautiful, her wings brilliant and glistening in the sun. I will watch her journey and simply say, “I truly do understand how you are feeling. I’ve been there. You’ll get through this. I know that because I know you and I believe that you can do it. I love you.”
When we think of motherhood, we normally think of being the mother of an infant or small child. But, we will spend the majority of our time with our child as a loving bystander and cheerleader. All we can do is watch them struggle out of their cocoons over and over again and pray that they remember who they are.
“Don’t forget that you are a butterfly,” mothers of adults need to call. “Remember you are loved.”
This is the best gift that we can offer them. The joy comes as they unexpectedly share their newfound wisdom with us.
When I had to remind Julianne today that it isn’t wise to drive with a cell phone in her lap, I didn’t realize that the flow of giving would travel upwards. She didn’t know that I have been struggling in a hard place, trying to get back out of the cocoon pressures of life that have wrapped around me. She didn’t know that I have been lost and am looking for myself again. She didn’t know that I would find hope on the front of her cell phone.The world is not over. Watch me fly.
- Ro

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