Memorable

Once upon a time, when my blog was quite young (I just looked it up and realized my blog is over 7 years old!??  715 posts and counting....), I did a series that I really enjoyed called "Favorite Things Friday."  I've kind of been itching to do another series, and started racking my brain for an idea.  Hence the birth of a new series, simply titled "Memorable."  I'll try to post on Mondays (key operative word = "try") some memory, hopefully accompanied by a picture.  If other people are specifically involved in the memory (as is the case with today's post), I'll share it on my Facebook account so I can tag them!  I'm really excited about dredging up these old pictures and stories!  Feel free to contribute in the comments if you're involved in the post and have more/related memories to share!  :)

My sister Julie, me, and our cousin Melissa
Summer 1987

I don't specifically remember this day or even where exactly this picture was taken, but I'd imagine it was at our house, since I do recognize the dollies as ours!  (Mom, feel free to fill in the details!)  

When I ran across this picture, I really wanted to share it because I'm about Serena's age here.  She just loves playing with her babies, Emily & Olie, and I can imagine that Julie, Melissa, and I were such busy little mommies taking care of our little babies that day.  And I would also imagine that our Mommies were getting such a big kick out of our antics.  Because when I see Serena playing "mommy" to her babies, I just feel this inexplicable warmth and soft love for her and the sweet "mommy instincts" that are part of the very essence of "her."  And if there's anything that being a mommy has caused me to contemplate, it's the beautiful circle of life.  Our precious children explore the world in much the same way that we did, and our parents did, and our grandparents did.  Our world and our culture keeps changing; but our kids keep imagining, pretending, and experimenting.  They cuddle, they cry, they grow; they keep their parents awake at night (Seriously, how is it that no one has been able to come up with a way for all babies everywhere to sleep all night every night?!?!  Is it an evolutionary fail, or were babies just simply designed that way by God?  And why?  Just something my tired, mushy, mommy-brain has been mulling over through the last 3 1/2 sleepless years.  I have some ideas, but I digress, heehee!); they test us, stretch us, and open the door for us to experience some of the deepest and strongest emotions we have ever felt.  And THEN, to top it all off, they copy us.  They do what we do; they say what we say; and they mirror our emotions, desires, and attitudes.  I know my Mommy loved being mommy.  She didn't have to tell us (though I think she did), because it was obvious that she was doing what she wanted to be doing.  She was a happy Mommy and she sang and smiled and laughed.  A lot.  :)  She believed she had the best job in the world, and she obviously enjoyed it.  I've always looked forward to being a mommy, and now that it's happened, I know that my love for this amazing job is something that I share with my own Mommy.  The love of mommy-hood that is part of the very essence of "me" is something that she fostered in me by her own example.  Also, the tendency to SING EVERYTHING.  ;)

So, there I am, with two of my favorite childhood playmates, happily clutching my doll, whom I had carefully dressed, fed, and burped.  We were probably going to go "grocery shopping" and then put the babies down to sleep next.  ;)  

Our cousin, Melissa, is very close to my age and we used to have so much fun playing together!  When we grew older, we saw each other less and less; but she'll always be a very special part of my childhood memories!