As we approach Mother's Day, store owner Chris Warren reflects on her own experience as a mother and a daughter, and above all her experience as a woman:
I am a 55 year old woman with a 20 year old daughter. The 25 years age difference has become something precious to me as she continues to develop into a wonderful young woman. Her present age, I have decided is a launching pad.
"As I watch [my daughter], I revisit my own early womanhood."
She is now a woman and as I watch her, I revisit my own early womanhood. As I listen to her daily snippets of new life experiences, good and bad, I am overwhelmingly enjoying this unexpected connection I have with her now. I have come to the realization that this is not just the bond of motherhood, but the bond of womanhood.
"This is not just the bond of motherhood, but the bond of womanhood."
This awareness leads me to the next step. The multi-generational bond of womanhood. Until my daughter became of age I did not truly understand its value. Now I do. Now I connect with the eyes of the 75 year old woman as she watches me. She is reliving her life at my age through me. It is not just an older wiser woman quietly listening or openly offering life advice. It is an invisible hand on my shoulder, connecting to my life, seeing herself through me. Feeling herself through me.
"This multi-generational bond makes women, as a gender, incredibly strong."
This multi-generational bond makes women, as a gender, incredibly strong. It is the life tree of support fornall of us. Â It is the bond of all women. The bond of womanhood.