I was at my son’s high school wrestling meet, watching all the matches going on while waiting for my son’s match to take place.
On one mat, an older, stronger wrestler battled hard against his opponent, pinning him with a victorious win. Before he turned to go back to his team, he faced the bleachers, looked up to my left, and pointed in that direction, then he took his fist to his heart, then pointed back again with a smile and a nod.
Oh. My. Heart.
This moment I witnessed melted me into a puddle of tears.
I looked over in search of who this kid might be directing all that love to, and there sat a mom, brimming with joy, clearly moved by her son’s public display of his love.
I impulsively got up and went over to her.
With so much excitement, I forgot about anything else going on with the meet. I could have easily missed my own son’s match, because for the moments following this magical one, I was in a wondrous daze, full of pure unbridled elation for this mom. And as I was swept up in allthefeelings, I was compelled to acknowledge this moment with her and celebrate what just transpired, knowing her heart must be overwhelmed at such a gift.
I scooted myself off the bleacher seat and awkwardly made my way toward where she was sitting. I said hello and asked if that was her son and although she was a bit startled by my unpredictable presence, she nodded with a big gorgeous smile and said yes. I went on to tell her how incredibly special that moment was and how clearly, she and her son have a beautiful bond- one all of us mama’s want to have displayed for everyone to see.
We immediately connected over the mother-son love we both treasure with our boys and cried happy tears of solidarity in celebrating when our sons actually demonstrate what we know to be true.
This mama just received extraordinary proof of that truth. Our sons, whether they show it or not, deep down at the core of who they are, have a special bond with their mamas.
It’s a rare thing to see the evidence of their love for us at this age, as our teens usually become more discreet with their subtle ways of acknowledging their love.
We both agreed that a public display of boys loving their mamas should be the cool thing to do and we dream of that trend coming to fruition someday. But until that happens, we said we’ll take what we can get, and by gosh, this mama won the prize.
Ah, the love we have for our sons! We might not experience the rare display of affection this young man gave his mom, but we know in their hearts, our boys feel the same. They might not express their love for us out loud as much anymore, but we know it’s there, it just transforms in different ways as they age. Our mother-son relationship is ever-changing as our sons grow up. And we adjust accordingly, knowing they must mature on their own. That’s how love grows, that’s how parenting these precious boys of ours goes.
And although our daughters hold a special place in our hearts and we love them fiercely too, although we adore all our kids equally, there’s a unique kind of love we have for our sons. And we’ll cherish it always, for the rest of our lives…
There’s just something about a mama and her boy.
Our bond is so special, it brings us such joy!
Our history is held in the core of our hearts,
That began when we first held them, pure love at the start.
We remember their tiny toes and big eyes,
Their reaching for mama’s arms all the time.
We’ve cared for their boo-boos, we’ve wiped away tears,
We’ve witnessed them changing, through all these years.
We hold every memory of our babies back then
And watch in wonder as they turn into men.
Our love will adjust to their shifting needs
We listen and learn and sometimes concede.
It doesn’t matter how much they have grown,
We know they must figure things out on their own.
Our bond can endure the stresses and strains
We know that this comes with these growing pains.
Even when our teens seem not to care
We know that deep down, our boys are in there.
It doesn’t matter if they roll their eyes,
Or respond to our instructions with long heavy sighs.
There’s just something about this gift that we know,
It’s a rare kind of love that continues to grow.
No matter what challenges we inevitably go through,
The love between a mama and her boy stays true.
We’re raising our babies to eventually leave home,
Since that day we first held them, we knew this would come.
But there’s just something about a mama and her boy that still thrives
And ties them together for the rest of their lives.
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