Happy Mother's Day!

This morning my family let me sleep in till 8:30, which was gift enough in and of itself, seeing as everyone else was up at 6:30. But the best part was that I also woke up to the smell of my husband making me French toast! On the table I was surrounded by all these precious gifts from my little ones ...and this beautiful rose bush. The kids all helped Daddy pick the one that was the most fragrant, and, let me tell you, these roses smell absolutely divine!
This rose type is called the Pope John Paul II.

Which actually reminds me of a story--a story that takes us back to my first moments of anticipated motherhood, so it is wholly appropriate to share with you today.

After college Jeff and I saved our pennies and took off for almost a month of traveling across Europe with our massive backpacks, crashing at night in sometimes gross, and sometimes beautiful, hostels.

At any rate the morning of May 21, 2000 we were in Rome. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and we were going to brave one of their 2 subway lines to get to Vatican city to see the sights. Before we left I took the first pregnancy test of my life, and it was positive! We were walking on air the rest of the day--so excited for this new phase of our lives together!

We hopped on the subway line to San Pietro's square, and it was jam-packed with Catholic tourists who were there to celebrate the Jubilee year. During the trip a girl tried to pickpocket the lady next to me, but the lady saw her and grabbed the girl's hand while it was in her bag. Boy, did that cause an Italian uproar! Of course we couldn't understand all that was said, but they found that the girl already had the lady's sweater, and the girl's friend had pickpocketed another lady as well! They hadn't got any money, so the things were returned and they just let the girls go!

We arrived in San Pietro's square just in time to see Pope John Paul II bless the assembled crowd. We didn't know what he was saying, but people in the crowd were crying. Several times during the blessing he would start singing and the people around us would join in.

After the blessing, he got in his cool little jeep and drove down the blocked off aisles through the crowd. He came within 5 feet of us! He was still 5 years away from death, but he looked very fragile.
Now we are not Catholic, but it was fun to see this very influential person up close and personal. Here are some of his quotes we hardily agree with:

“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.”

“Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.”

“With Judaism, therefore, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers, and in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers.”

"All human life, from the moments of conception and through all subsequent stages, is sacred."

"The future starts today, not tomorrow."

And so the future of our lives as parents started that day, just under 10 years ago today.

And a special Happy Mother's Day to my own Mom, who, coincidentally, happens to be in Rome today for her first time.