The Transformative Year

Today on NPR, I heard a story of a woman who found out her son was terminally ill. At 9 months old he was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs desease. She told of her reaction to the news that her son would surely pass away... She mentioned how she was faced with the realization that her parenting would be so different than other's experiences because immediately she was no longer parenting for a future; she was parenting for a finite life of a child who had barely began to live. This realization hit her hard because, especially in today's society, traditional parenting is so focused on the future and planning for a lifetime right from the start.

She said that first year was the most transformative year of her life, and that through dealing with her son's desease she was able to learn to live in the moment and cherish what she had in front of her. The gifts of every day. Her son, by just living as baby's do, made her look at the world in a different light. When you no longer are making plans for a future, but simply being grateful for living another day with love...

I am thinking of this last line, and how it rings true for me as well... I am thinking about how loosing everything or preparing to loose everything can make your eyes and heart open wider than they ever have before. I am also thinking about how a lot of truly transformative experiences lead to this realization: of just seeing what is in front of you for what it is... and living/loving life with an open heart.