Working in the advertising business means working with a lot of younger folks, some of whom are younger than my youngest child ... sheesh ... guess I really am getting old. I've written quite often about the family environment of our office, and about how in many ways I've sort of been the office mom. I'm glad the young people have always felt like they could come and talk to me about anything ... and I do mean anything ... I love, love, love that they knew beyond any doubt that they could trust me with anything and everything that was on their minds or in their hearts. I'm sure they didn't realize it, but their confidence and trust in me has truly been like medicine for my soul ... they thought I was helping them, but in reality, it was them who helped me. I'll be the first to admit that growing older isn't always much fun, but being a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on for those young folks has certainly been a wonderfully great part of racking up some years of life for sure.
Being available to listen to my young friends pour out their troubles or encourage them through difficult times has been quite humbling to me, and celebrating with them when they are excited or rejoicing with them when they succeed has been beyond exhilarating. But my most favorite part of being the office mom is when those young folks have babies ... yep, I love it when they have babies ... love it, love it, love it. You know why? Because when they bring those babies into the office, I get to play pretend Ghee with them for at least a few minutes. In just the last couple of weeks, I've gotten to sit in my chair at my desk and rock some of those babies. And I can promise you those young folks have no idea how much it means to me when they seek me out and pass their little ones into my arms ... there's no way they could even begin to know how very much that means to me for so very many different reasons.
Pretty often the young parents at work will ask for my advice on kid or baby stuff ... it seems like that type of questioning comes in waves; one parent asks me about something and then several others ask for my input about other various child-related situations. Like last week, for example ... I lost count of how many times a young parent said, "So did your kids ever ...? or "Should I be worried if my kid ...?" In answering their questions, I became perhaps more aware than I've ever been before that being Matt, Brad and Meghann's mom has been without a doubt the greatest blessing and highest calling of my entire life. For all my mistakes and disastrous parenting moments, they somehow managed to become amazing, wonderful, brilliant, caring, compassionate, understanding, loyal, talented adults in spite of all my failings.
Last night, I had dinner with my son Brad's girlfriend Shelby, her sister and her sister's friend. As many of you know, it's rare for me to go out anywhere on the weekend, unless of course, I'm spending time with one of my kiddos, and sometimes ... well ... suffice it to say that sometimes the weekends aren't exactly my favorite times of the week. I can't remember when I've spent a leisurely Saturday evening chatting with other gals, and it was absolutely wonderful. As is true anytime two sisters are together, Shelby and her sister had me howling with laughter as they told story after story from their childhood. I can't remember the context now, but at some point I asked Shelby what Brad tells her about me ... I asked her if he ever talks about the kind of mom I was when he was young. Her reply blew me away ... completely blew me away.
"Brad always says that you were his greatest encourager ... that you were his biggest fan."
While I know in my heart that Brad is being far too kind in his description of me, I also know that if that's what he remembers ... if that's the mom he perceived me to be ... then I at least got that part right. If my kids remember nothing else about me for the rest of their lives, I hope they remember I was always on their side cheering them on. Maybe that's the answer, you know ... maybe that truly is the answer for every parent, whether your kids are babies or young adults or even ... gasp! ... teenagers. If nothing else, be sure you are their greatest encourager ... be sure you are their greatest fan. Something tells me if you do, everything else will work itself out ... something tells me it will indeed.
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