Project Help

[itsallovernow]

So a friend of mine is having a baby shower this weekend, which I am not going to (partly because I don't want to and partly because I thought it was a different day and therefore scheduled my time poorly). She and her husband are lovely people and I know them through a mutual friend.

However, another friend arranged this really lovely gift which is a book of pages done by each individual person in a group we all belong to. I have yet to complete my page because I am a bad, bad friend.

It needs to be about motherhood, and about this person in particular.

What I'm looking for are non-scary quotes about motherhood/parenthood that I can put on this page. I'm not looking for sappy, am looking for things that actually seen to reflect the state of being a mother.

Literature, poetry, hell, even old medical textbooks, or new hippyish text books would be welcome. I'd like to do sort of a collage of words, maybe layer some old over some new.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I am not good with sentimental reflections.

Comments

[raithen.livejournal.com]

*I* think you should just include yesterday's drabble.... ;).

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

She's not a fannish friend:) Sadly. Because then my work would be done:)

[raithen.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

From Marge Piercy, My mother's body"

[raithen.livejournal.com]

.


My dear, what you said was one thing
but what you sang was another, sweetly
subversive and dark as blackberries
and I became the daughter of your dream.

Re: From Marge Piercy, My mother's body"

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

That's lovely.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

I went back in my LJ. Here is how I described JJ (filly, but as close as I have to a child) when she was born. If it helps at all:

JJ is BEEEYOOOTIFUL and sweet and spunky and healthy.

*SQUEEE!!!*

[kazbaby]

A few quotes I like regarding moms are:

“A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot.” - Allan Beck

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” - Lincoln

“Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” - Washington Irving

Good luck with the project, and I hope these help.

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely. Thanks for your help!

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

The default is, of course, Kahlil Gibran. blackmask.com might have some interesting 1920s books on motherhood.

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Blackmask is being a bit temperamental (I'm thinking maybe their Conde Nast lawsuit isn't going too well - any Gutenbergish site should do it, though), but I did find a decent link on the Gibran excerpt.

[cretkid.livejournal.com]

how about some erma bombeck quotes?

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/6174/erma-bombeck-quotes.htm


What I was looking for specifically is something my mother has always had a copy of - it's tucked away in her jewelry box - but of course I can't find it, but it has to do with being the 'first child' the 'baby' and 'the middle child'.

[cretkid.livejournal.com]

and now I've found it:


To The First Born:

I've always loved you best because you were our first miracle. You were the genesis of a marriage, the fulfillment of young love, the promise of our infinity.

You sustained us through the hamburger years. The first apartment furnished in Early Poverty.....our first mode of transportation (1955 feet) ....the 7 inch TV set we paid for 36 months. You wore new, had unused grandparents and more clothes than a Barbie doll. You were the "original model" for unsure parents trying to work the bugs out. You got the strained lamb, open pins and three-hour naps.

You were the beginning.

To The Middle Child..........

I've always loved you best because you drew a dumb spot in the family, and it made you stronger for it. You cried less, had more patience, wore faded and never in your life did anything "first,"but it only made you more special. You are the one we relaxed with and realized a dog could kiss you and you wouldn't get sick. You could cross the street by yourself long before you were old enough to get married, and the world wouldn't come to an end if you went to bed with dirty feet.

You were the continuance.

To the Baby........

I've always loved you the best because endings generally are sad, and you are such a joy. You readily accepted the milk stained bibs. The lower bunk. The cracked baseball bat. The baby book, barren but for a recipe for graham pie crust that someone jammed between the pages.

You are the one we held onto so tightly. For you see, you are the link with the past that gives a reason to tomorrow. You darken our hair, quicken our steps, square our shoulders, restore our vision and give us humor that security and maturity can't give us.

When your hairline takes on the shape of Lake Erie and your children tower over you, you will still be "the baby."

You were the culmination.



Now, imagine my father, reading this at my sister's wedding during the toast, and rearranging some of the stuff... for example, for 'to my first child' - it was macaroni and cheese years, the first house rather than apartment, and Barbie Doll I believe was replaced with Mrs Beasley, and something about wishing I had taken three hour naps....

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that's fantastic:) I bet there were tears galore!

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Excellent suggestion.

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

*cough*mailedyet*cough*

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mailed it this week.