Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
“Then you must tell ’em dat love ain’t somethin’ lak uh grindstone dat’s de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch. Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.”
All Time Favorite
This is one of my all time favorite quotes. When I read these words by Hurston, my heart beats a little faster and I feel the love I have for my daughters brimming up, as I reflect on my love for them and how the love my mama had must have felt for my siblings and I. Sometimes my siblings and I joke about which one of us is our mama’s favorite and why. Those are always fun conversations.
“Love is like the sea. It’s a moving thing…it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” I remember that anticipatory feeling when my second baby was on the way. What would she be like? Would she look like me? Would she find a lifelong friend in her sister? How would I adjust to more than one child, gracefully or with struggle? Who would this baby grow up to become?
No more or no less, but uniquely
I love each of my children in unique ways, no more or no less, but uniquely. The best way I have ever found this feeling expressed is in this quote by Hurston. There are, of course, some ways in which my girls are very similar but they are also very different. They each have their own personalities, needs, and interests. Juggling the many facets of life in itself is tough and for many moms finding the management of all you need to do for your family is overwhelming.
Honoring each need and response
We feel like we can never sink as the mom and maybe constantly moving is the comfort that we won’t. The differences in the manifestation of our love for each of our children is special. Thinking of it in a way that honors each need and response, thinking of the sea and the shore it meets, can help ease that overwhelming feeling. Our love is different with every shore but the current is always just as strong.
