The biggest way my life has changed since I moved to Hickory with Kevin is I am a mother now. Huge difference when you move across country and you leave your (adult) child behind!
When Kevin and I moved to Hickory, we weren’t married yet. We had only known each other a little over year and it was a blind leap of faith to move away together. We have been very blessed to have been together for over thirty years and a wonderful life together. Of course, we have had our ups and downs, but we have survived life together! The biggest accomplishment of our lives is our daughter, Molly.
Molly didn’t come to us easily. When we first got married, neither one of us wanted children. It wasn’t until I got closer to thirty than my “mother gene” kicked in. Kevin agreed to ONE child, and I got pregnant very easily. Staying pregnant was another situation. I had preterm labor and ended up on bed rest for three months. Kevin had to work fulltime and do all the housework too. Finally, our beautiful baby girl arrived and we thought all our troubles were behind us. That is when postpartum depression hit. It hit me hard. I don’t remember much of the first five months of Molly’s life and I am so grateful we took lots of pictures! Molly was born in January and my true memories start in June. What I remember most when the cloud of depression lifted is how much my heart had grown. I loved this little being more that I thought it was possible to love another human!
Fast -forward twenty-five years. Kevin and I are living in Oceanside and our daughter is living in Louisville. It hasn’t been that hard with cell phones, Facebook, and Snapchat. But something happened with Molly’s job last week and she needed me. She REALLY needed me. We always told her that just because we were living 2000 miles away, didn’t mean we wouldn’t be there for her when she needed us. So, I bought a plane ticket and headed to Louisville. The mother gene kicked in high alert and I wouldn’t have been anywhere else. Yes, she is twenty-five and she could have handled things on her own, but isn’t that what mothers are for?? Honestly, I am so very happy that I am the ONE she wanted to help her. There is nothing more satisfying for a mother than to be an important part of your adult child’s life. Even though Molly is an adult, that enormous love for her is still a part of my DNA and always will be!!
So, I am back in Oceanside and Molly is enjoying a weekend away with friends. We have decided that it will become a yearly trek for me to Louisville when school starts for Molly and I am excited to be a part of her career, if only for a short while each year. Parenthood may be the hardest job you will ever love, but LOVE is what it is all about!
Safe travels,
Lori