Roots In Sweden

"Mother's Day"

"Styvmorsviol"

(Stepmother's Violet)

 Provincial flower of Angermanland, Sweden

"Last-last Sunday" (as they say in Sweden) was Mother's Day in the U.S. 

In Sweden it happens on the last Sunday in May,

just a week or so from now.

This year I have had some quiet time during my barn duties to reflect on my feelings about motherhood in a way that I have seldom done in the past.

Those reflective moments have given me some increasingly clear insights.

Here are seven of them:

1.   I have loved the role of motherhood from my earliest childhood memories. 

      I always wanted to be a mother first and foremost.

2.  For me no other calling can compare in importance to that   

     of a mother.

It has bound me to Heavenly Father in a very singular way

 that  has influenced all aspects of my life.

3.  Being a mother has meant loving my children during their best and worst times of life,

 no matter how they behave towards me or others.

4.  Motherhood will always require absolute truth. 

Even if it means it will be hard to hear and the relationship will be strained,

 the truth is always the only way.

5.  Mothering will never be a popularity contest. 

 It is not possible to be one WITH the kids if you are one OF the kids.

6.  Inviting a child to the earth brings with it eternal responsibilities

 that must be carried out.

No exceptions.

7.  When you give your heart to mothering,

 you give your heart to all humanity.

The Stepmother's Violet (Styvmorsviol) is one of the first blooms to appear on our farm after the long, hard winter each year. 

It holds a special significance for me at this time in my life.

When I first came to Sweden a man in our village pointed it out and explained it's meaning. 

He said:

"This beautiful flower, seen upside-down,
 means that a stepmother sits on two chairs

 and holds all her children in her heart and in her arms -

the ones she bore in love and the ones she chose in love -

they are the same."

I bore six children in love and from those children I also received four sons-in-law and one daughter-in-law.

When I married Hans I chose eleven children in love and also received their marriage partners.

I hold them all in my heart and in my arms,

 and I love them all.

 They are the same.

We hope you had/will have

 a wonderful

Mother's Day.