i never would have believed that i could love another person to the point of being willing to give up my very life for them ~let alone 5 of them.

i never thought i'd understand my own mother 
and the way she overreacted when it came to our trials 
or tribulations.

i never thought i'd figure out what she meant 
the day my mother-in-law told me,
"if my son loves you, then i love you."

i never thought i'd be content to see my career
morph into helping new moms learn about their babies.

what a wonderful surprise motherhood has been for me. 

what a magical gift to get to be a tiny part of immortality and know that this is what it was all for, all along
- and it was worth every minute of the dues i paid.

what a saving grace to suddenly see through 
my mother's eyes and feel with her heart.

what a lovely surprise to finally not need any explanation
for what my mother-in-law meant.

my wish for all my friends and family today
is that you have all had lives touched by this kind of love
and that you get the chance to celebrate it today.
thank you all for being a part of my milky celebration of it.
happy mother's day!

~jacqui gruttadauria, BSW
(near detroit, usa - where the TIME cover is quite the  offending shocker and my now 12 yo son who self-weaned at 5 said: "i bet all those ppl who find it so shameful are still drinking cow's milk. aren't they ashamed they aren't weaned yet?")

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