Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine May - Mother's Day Issue | Page 7

Because of her prayers,
I now have a family,
something I never thought
I would have, with two
beautiful children to raise
with all the love that she
instilled in me.
Most people get some
resistance when they tell
someone they want to write
a book. My family was the
first to encourage my new
passion, with my mother
right along side me. If you’ve ever met
me at a convention, there’s a good chance
that my Mom was with me. The more
expansive the convention, the longer the
days, the more likely that she was there.
Wherever she goes, you will not meet
my mom without a bookmark or some
information about my books. When I am
tired and doubtful about my work, she’s
one of the first people to tell me to keep
going.
I could go on and on about her and
my gratitude only deepens with age. This
legacy of love was passed down to her
through the strength and courage of her
own mother, my grandmother, Mary. I
pray I have this same powerful love within
me, so that I can pass it on. If there’s just
one part of this legacy that I could share
with you – one truth – it is that true love
is a living thing.
I’ll never forget the moment I
understood this. My first year of college,
my Mom lived in DC and I was across
the country in California. Even though
we were thousands of miles apart, I could
still hear her voice. I could still feel her love
for me expanding from within. As I made
decisions, I heard her voice encouraging me
down the right path. Even when I felt lonely,
I knew that my mother loved me. I knew this
because she gave her love so completely that it
no longer needed her presence. Her love grew
inside me because she cut the ties and gave it
to me unconditionally, not for a moment or
even a lifetime. She gave it to me forever. I
remember the tears in my eyes as I sat alone in
my dorm room and realized that I carried her
love around with me always. The only thing
better than that was God Himself.
My mother taught me the legacy of love,
what it truly means to give your love to
another person, so that it breathes, grows, and
lives outside of you, nourishing those you seek
to set free. Like God’s love, it is the one gift
that lasts forever and I am eternally grateful.
I am sure that you, the reader, has had some
influence on your life that has made you feel
even a semblance of what I’ve written here. If
so, then it should be an honor for you to share
that love and pass it on.