The hardest part of my journey was not losing a leg. It was not recovering from 26 surgeries or enduring a year plus of physical & occupational therapy. It was coming home after 6 weeks of being in the hospital and rehab and my almost 1 year old son not knowing who I was.

When I left he was just shy of 10 months was just starting to say the word “mama”. He knew who his “mama” was and was just starting to communicate that. And then, to him, this lady disappeared. He seen me rarely in a 6 week time frame and when he did, it was only for an hour or two. Of course he was shown pictures and we face timed but this lady on the screen was not the Mom he remembered. And it’s understandable for him to forget me. This lady was 50 pounds lighter and had a tube in her nose. She wasn’t able to pick him up or crawl around on the floor with him. His mom could do all of that and this lady could not. So when this stranger came home and then he was suddenly expected to come up to her and call her mom, one could understand why he was confused & afraid. Why he wouldn’t come up to me nor call me “Mama”. And boy did it hurt. I was jealous of my husband & our family who watched him while I was away. I was jealous of the way his face would just light up when he seen them and heartbroken by the way he would cry the instant he was set on my lap. But I was also thankful. Thankful that everyone who cared for him always treated him as if he was their own. Cared for him the way I would have and loved him with their entire hearts. And always made sure he knew that they weren’t his mom even though it seemed like it to him at times. And that’s why I know that Mother’s Day is more than a having a baby physically or legally.

Mother’s Day is for the aunts & friends & Cousins & grandmas & neighbors & babysitters that love our kids. That have no problem doing the work of the mom though they might not have no legal or physical bond to that child. Being a mom is hard work. And often times it takes the work of a village to help raise a child. The concept of being a Mom or being “Motherly” is so much more than what could be described in a few words, a couple of sentences, or a 10 page essay. Because Moms come in all shapes & sizes. And while actually holding the title of “Mom” is an honor, the concept of being “Motherly” is an amazing description for a person as well. And those people need to be honored on Mother’s Day as well. Because those are the people that help care for your kids while you need care yourself. The people that make birthday parties for your one year old possible even though you got home from a 6 week hospital stay just a week ago. The people that who take just as many pictures of your kids as they do their own because they love them so much. Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate you as a mom & the people who help you be a mom. Because all moms need help sometimes. And being able to admit that means you are an amazing mom. Mom’s & Motherly figures make the world go round, or at least mine. So I just have one last thing to say…

Happy Mother’s Day! Here’s to another long, short, trying, giggle filled trip around the sun!

#TheOneLeggedMommy #Amputee #MothersDay #MomminAintEasy #NecrotizingFasciitis #HipDisarticulation #ILoveMyMom #Motherly #Aunts #Grandmas #Cousins #Friends #Neighbors #HappyMothersDay