No one that isn’t a mother can imagine the power and intensity that comes with a mother’s pride! It isn’t developed, it is inherent the moment that woman knows she is pregnant. What she can’t possibly know is just how strong that pride is for her sweet baby growing in her tummy. When mommy sets eyes on baby, the pride swells and is almost too overwhelming to handle! Then as that baby grows to toddler to adolescent to young adult and beyond, the pride grows right along with them. My a-mom is seriously one of the most proud moms in the entire world. I’m absolutely convinced of this. She has always bragged ad nauseam to anyone who would listen. She hasn’t eased up at all in our older ages, in fact, she is so proud of my blog that she actually prints out the posts and takes them around with her to show people! She was always that way, so happy to be proud of me. I think that is one reason I was so affected when I disappointed her so badly after dropping out of college right after high school and wasn’t following a good path. Seeing the pain in her eyes because I wasn’t giving her a reason to be proud really hurt me and shamed me. It truly hurt her that she wanted to be proud of me, as it is an inherent thing, but she couldn’t be proud of my behavior. It made me turn around my life because I wanted her to be proud of me. Most everything I did after that was to restore her faith and pride, and thankfully, I eventually did! Her pride was powerful. I needed it and didn’t know that until I had lost it. Now what is interesting is that I’ve seen that a mother’s pride spans all time and situations. As you all know, I have reunited with my n-mom (whom I will call Sara for the purposes of this blog). In the eight years since we’ve been back together, I have felt and witnessed her pride for me, too! From day one, she has been so proud to call me her daughter. I can see in her eyes, the pride she feels for me. Anytime we meet someone, even strangers, she is so happy to introduce me as her daughter. She loves to brag about my accomplishments to these complete strangers, because pride is inherent the moment you know you’re pregnant. I love it when someone is proud of me, who isn’t? And now I have TWO mothers who are so proud to call me their daughter and proud of the things I’ve done with my life. Because that means to much to me, my heart is double full for having both of these mothers in my life and I love them both. I bask in the light of their pride.