I just got home from a four day trip to spend a Ladies Weekend with my Grandma. My Grandma is my very best girlfriend and the picture of what I someday hope to be as a wife, mother, and woman. Several years back I wrote a monthly column for our local Newspaper entitled "Lessons from Grandma". I have decided to post that as a series for my blog. I hope you enjoy it. Below is lesson one. . .first published in 2008.
To Become a Woman. .
. Again
Hello Dear Readers, as we celebrate Mothers Day this year I
have a confession for you; I am learning
to become a woman again. As little girls
we watch our mothers put on make-up, perfume and jewelry. We observe all of the Disney character
princesses, and dress up our Barbie for a big date with Ken. One day we seem to change from an awkward
little girl to the woman we watched so closely.
The new woman one day meets her handsome prince and they ride off into
the sunset. On the other side of the
sunset is a change that the fairytales forget to tell us about. The beautiful woman becomes a mommy.
I love being a mother but over the past nine years I realize
that I have lost the beauty of being a woman.
My life is about having time to take a shower; forget the makeup. I help with homework, make school lunches,
and potty train two year old little boys.
Many years ago my purse was exchanged for a diaper bag. When youngest son Jacob turned two years old
last year, I told Roman that I was
planning on becoming a woman again.
After eight years of toting a diaper bag my first step to being feminine
was to buy a new purse.
This quest to feel female again was part of the inspiration
to write about the life of Pattye Louise Hopkins. In every way a lady. Yes a wife, yes a mother, but always a
woman. So to recapture the art of
femininity a few years ago I started an annual girl’s weekend with Grandma.
People have many different learning styles.
I learn by observation. So I
thought what better way to grasp womanhood again than to spend it observing my
favorite gal. When I planned the first weekend away, I had never been away from my children for
more than twenty four hours. I called my
best friend and we flew down to Austin to spend some girl time with Grandma. The weekend couldn’t have been more
perfect. We slept in and Grandma had
breakfast waiting for us each morning.
Of course sleeping in for me these days equates to about 7:30a.m! Grandma took us to “A taste of Thyme” for an
afternoon tea and after that we went out to tour a wine vineyard. The tour included a wine tasting and she had
us pick out a bottle of our favorite wine to take home. Later that afternoon we
went shopping to pick out my new purse. The next evening Grandma told us to get all
“Gussied Up” in our nicest attire. She had made reservations at Russo’s the
fanciest restaurant in town. Russo’s sits
overlooking lake LBJ and we had a quiet meal overlooking the water. No one
spilled there milk, no one made funny “potty-jokes”, no one asked me to get up
and get them anything. I just sat and
enjoyed the company of my best friend, and my best gal! My favorite part of our weekend however was
sitting up talking life, marriage, and just asking Grandma for wisdom and
advice. I don’t know how she managed
throughout the years, but somehow my Grandmother never lost the beauty of being
a woman. I know she loved being a mother
and a wife but somehow in that she never lost the identity of being Pattye
Louise. I think perhaps the key was in
living in every moment. Every season of
life she has fully embraced. When her
kids were young she was in the stands at all of their baseball games. That side of her life did not stop her from
getting “Gussied Up” and heading into town for a date with my Grandfather
either. She realized a women is many things all at once. I wonder if perhaps she read Proverbs 31 and
put its words into practice?
For all mothers out there who may feel a little less than
feminine these days, take this lesson and apply it to your own life. Find time to celebrate the beauty of being
wife, being mother, and being woman.
When I returned home I felt refreshed and renewed to do the job this
season in my life calls me to be. After
all Dear Readers, what is more feminine than to be called “Mommy”!
