Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Recognition

There are moments when you see in one glance the complex, awkward and profound thoughts that swirl in your child's head and you recognize them as your own complex awkward and profound thoughts, filtered through yet another layer of genes, DNA and experience.

There are moments when you are fully humbled by the wide world that is in front of your child, and by their ability to confront it with courage, with a quiet inner strength that is scared beyond measure and determined to go face the scary anyway.

There are moments when you see with piercing clarity the individual your child has become: the growth in their limbs is matched by the growth of their heart and the stretching of their mind.

There are moments when the fog lifts, and you see the fragile exquisite human that your child is, and how their heart matches your heart in so many ways. You see, and you know, how their heart crumbles when they feel they've gotten it wrong, when they feel they've been misunderstood, when they want nothing more than to make it right.

There are moments, a few rare brief and beautiful moments when the crushing knowledge of all that you must do as a parent is bathed in the light of a late summer morning - and the knowledge becomes a gift instead of a burden.



There are moments when you would like nothing more than to capture a few snapshots of a happy Back to School Morning, and instead you glimpse the depths and the heights of what it is to parent. Of what it is to have an almost-eight-year-old own your heart in a million ways. Of what Grace is.

I found all this in the face of my girl yesterday morning, and I am so profoundly grateful.

There are moments when you want to see the ordinary, and instead you find grace.

9 comments:

Cheryl said...

Beautiful shot!

Varda said...

Lovely, absolutely lovely. I was just looking at my son's sleeping face, thinking about how much he is and isn't like me at 8, reveling in his beauty & wishing I could bannish all his fears.

agschneider said...

Those are great pictures, Kirsten, both photo and word. That smile is from a million miles away and yet is closer than breathing.

dutchmuse said...

Beautiful picture! Oh my, does this mean that I haven't seen you in almost 7 years when this beautiful little girl was just 1. Where has the time gone? I see so much of you in her (and a bunch of Torbjorn, too, of course, but so much Kirsten). Let's not wait another 7 years (when we're like what 40? 50? 20?) to see each other again and Evelina's....well, eight. I hope she'll take after your beautiful Cecilie (of course she will :-))

diane said...

what a beauty. and what a great shot.

Jen C said...

Aww, what a big day! She looks so grown up.

katdish said...

Profound.

Anonymous said...

Love the look on her face...seems to say she is ready MOM! It's okay.
It is all part of her story. Wonder what she will write about that picture in a few years?

Linda @ bushel and a pickle
(omega57.wordpress.com
(Some of our girls' stories on my other blog omega58.wordpress.com)

Linda said...

Sorry to leave an Anonymous comment. I have to use a VPN at my location. The reply function does not work correctly so my comments end up as Anonymous. it is not my intention.

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