It’s Mama
C is for Cherish….to treasure, protect and hold dear
Children,
One of the greatest blessings in my life has been both being cherished by someone and the active act of cherishing those in my life. We don’t talk much today in terms of cherishing, treasuring, or holding hear those we care about and love, and it is our loss that we don’t. For, if we did, I feel certain that our hearts, attitudes, demeanor, and behaviors would be the beneficiary of an improved life.
I think of Cherish often when I look at Ian and the gentle and tender way, he loves our family. He reaches out to each of us using the love language most meaningful to us as if his very life depends on our joy and happiness.
When I hear the word cherish, I imagine watching a bride walking toward her husband on her wedding day with violins playing in the foreground or a baby toddling toward the ocean for the first time with her face awestruck as her feet push through the sand. I think of the elderly man holding fast to his wife of 64 years as they walk through the park or the single woman who sips coffee on her patio watching her kittens at play.
I can think of fewer things in my life which have brought me more joy than those moments where I felt cherished by you…when you called just to tell me you love me or dropped by my office for a quick visit. When you left a message on the phone which, when answered, was “our song” of Keith Urban playing, “Somebody Like You” – a song we have played over and over again in our lives as Mama and children and one which most definitely makes me smile and feel cherished when you send it to me.
There’s a new wind blowin’ like I’ve never known
I’m breathin’ deeper than I’ve ever done
And it sure feels good
To finally feel the way I do
Now I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you
An’ I’m lettin’ go of all my lonely yesterdays
I’ve forgiven myself for the mistakes I’ve made
Now there’s just one thing
The only thing I wanna do, mmhmm
I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you
Yeah, I wanna feel the sunshine
Shinin’ down on me and you
When you put your arms around me
You let me know there’s nothing in this world I can’t do
I used to run in circles goin’ no where fast
I’d take a one step forward and a two steps back
I couldn’t walk a straight line
Even if I wanted to
I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you
Such a simple thing to do with such a significant impact when you do it…
Life is about those moments you stop to take time to make someone feel cherished, treasured, significant and, I hope you always know how much I cherish each of you, all of you, individually…collectively
Forever and always
Cherishing someone is a gift you give both to the person you are cherishing and to yourself in the giving…
It means you have paused and taken time to see the who of the person…the heart and the soul. You’ve looked past the negative and have expanded the good and in the so doing, have made the choice
To love
To appreciate
To cherish….
And, it is an active word
Meaning that you don’t just feel it in your heart, but that you share it with that person so that they are filled to overflowing
And, in that overflow, you are so filled that you, too, can pass love and kindness and compassion to others…
Like a well that never goes dry
It is my hope that each of you will come to know this word and will live it out in your life….
And that you will do so,
Extravagantly,
I love you as only your Mama can,
Mama