“There is no greater warrior than a mother protecting her child”–Anonymous.
My mother protected me from the truth about surviving the abortion attempt for many years. My biological mother protected me from the pain of some of the hardest truths about my survival once we finally connected.
Yet looking upon both of these women, my two mothers, I suspect many people wouldn’t sense at first their incredible warrior strength.
Both are unassuming women, (ordinary women, as we three often call ourselves, myself included), but each possess a quiet strength that shields, loves, and protects those they love, especially their children.
I’m used to this with my mom. I’ve had her in my life now for 40 years! This experience with my birthmother, however, is a fairly new one. As most people know, I spent almost twenty years believing that it was her choice to have the abortion that was meant to end my life.
And although I still forgave her for that and loved her unconditionally, I never thought that love would be a two-way street for us.
I never thought it would run as deeply as it does now that we know one another, and our love grows out of the suffering and brokenness we both endured in the past, and continues to blossom as we live life in the present.
I never thought that she would be my other warrior mother, and that, in reality, she had been all along.
The truth doesn’t always come pouring out in life, but rather trickles down in tiny droplets, and such was the circumstance with my birthmother.
It took many years for me to finally learn that she protected me as best she could, and even though she didn’t willingly place me for adoption, that very circumstance protected me by placing me with my adoptive parents, people who would love and support me in ways that her family likely would not have.
She may not have initially known that she paid a great sacrifice that day I was born alive and whisked away without her knowledge, but she understands that now.
And as I sat in separate interviews, respectively, with both of my mothers, my mom and my birthmom, recently, I was struck by their incredible strength and love, by how much I am a product of these two women, of both nurture and nature.
If you passed either one of my moms on the street, you may be struck by their kind smile, their friendly nature. Yet, inside these quiet, sweet women lies the heart of a warrior. A mother who will protect her child. A mother who put their needs above her own.
I suspect our world is made up of unassuming, self-sacrificing women, who deep inside them possess the heart of a warrior mother. A mother whose love is fierce and protective.
And as I look upon my life as a mother, myself, I couldn’t be more thankful for the example of my two warrior mothers.
I am the woman I am today, I am the warrior mother, (albeit with probably a stronger outward discernably fierce nature than the two of them), because of their quiet, yet protective resolve.
To my two warrior mothers who are reading this—I thank God for you! And to all of the warrior mothers out there, keep on loving fiercely, no matter how quiet or loud your roar.
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