Living in Coldplay's Paradise

When she was just a girl

She expected the world

But it flew away from her reach

So she ran away in her sleep

Dreamed of para- para- paradise                                                 

Para- para- paradise

Para- para- paradise

Every time she closed her eyes

Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh

When she was just a girl

She expected the world

But it flew away from her reach

And the bullets catch in her teeth

Life goes on

It gets so heavy

The wheel breaks the butterfly

Every tear, a waterfall

In the night, the stormy night

She closed her eyes                                                                        

In the night, the stormy night

Away she'd fly.

And dreamed of para- para- paradise

Para- para- paradise

Para- para- paradise

Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh

She dreamed of para- para- paradise

Para- para- paradise

Para- para- paradise

Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

La la la La

La la la                                                                                    

So lying underneath those stormy skies.

She said oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.

I know the sun must set to rise.

This could be para- para- paradise

Para- para- paradise

This could be para- para- paradise

Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

"Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved. " Erich Fromm

A letter to my mother on Mother's Day    

     There are some things no child born into this world should ever be without; access to food, water, shelter often come to mind as the necessities of life, but there is another element fundamental to the development of this precious life, a mother's love. There are a million ways to feel this phenomenon in a human life. It can be biological, yet biology is not requisite, and tragically is not  provided in every child's life. It can also be situational in which mothering and a mother's love is given and experienced in  close-knit friendship. Or it can even be biologically situational in which the heart of a mother can be endowed to someone whom has a deep connection to the recipient of such devotion. For me, I have had the blessing to experience the love and support of a variety of "mothers" in my life and I am forever grateful for that for they have been the moons reflecting the brilliance and power of the sunlight of my own dear mother's love

Mom,

It is just now as I have acknowledged my adulthood that I truly understand how much of who I am I owe to you (and dad...but he already has a blog post dedicated to him...this one's for you.) Your example has taught and guided me my whole life, whether I was aware of it or not. In a few weeks I will finally have accomplished a lifelong goal of graduating from college.  It is because of your brave example I often found the strength to carry on through the depths of emotional and physical exhaustion; to pick myself up and keep moving forward despite any seemingly insurmountable misstep. I constantly think to myself  "how could I dare give up when my mother did this same thing but had 5 kids and a job?" I often think back on the many sacrifices you made and the millions of times you could have given up on such a stubborn kid like me and didn't. I was the world's WORST newspaper deliverer ( and that is no hyberbole!), a bookworm, an introvert, a hippy who wrote all over my new jeans with permanent marker,  a runaway, a dropout,a liar,  a lost soul, and you loved me through all of it. I never told you the hurts I got at school. How hard life as a teenager was for me. But you helped me through the riptide of adolescence by getting up at 5:30 am every morning for 2 years and taking me to early morning seminary classes. My senior year of high school you were my best friend who fell asleep on the couch watching Silence of the Lambs  on a Friday night. You taught me the value of kindness to those who carry heavy burdens and that the best friendships are based on laughter and kindred hearts.

Mom, I have learned to laugh so hard I cry, especially at myself, because you are silly and fun and always making me laugh. Your smile is my smile. Your eyes are my eyes. And when people say to me "you look just like your mother"  it makes me smile because you are the most beautiful woman I know. You have cradled, cajoled, and clapped. You have hugged, hailed, and harangued. You gave me life and then have done everything you knew how to help me make the most out of it. And most importantly you have loved me. No matter what.

Love you mama.....Happy Mother's Day!