Thunderstorms and Sunsets

​Thunderstorms and Sunsets

A Mother’s Day Reflection

Motherhood did not begin for me in softness.
It began in survival.

When I first became a mother, I was unprepared in ways I did not fully understand at the time. Life moved quickly, responsibilities grew faster than I could process them, and my routines were built around whatever we needed to survive.

Survival looked like paying bills, making sure there was food. Sometimes it looked like pushing through exhaustion and figuring life out one day at a time.

During those years, many moments passed quietly while I was simply trying to hold everything together.

There are pieces of motherhood I wish I had experienced differently. Certain moments deserved more stillness, more softness, and more presence than I had the capacity to give at the time. Stress, pressure, emotional exhaustion, and responsibility consumed so much of my energy.

Love for my daughter was never missing.
Space to fully experience motherhood sometimes was.

Thunderstorms have a way of limiting your vision while you are standing inside of them.

Time changes the weather though.

One of the greatest blessings of my life has been watching my relationship with my daughter evolve over the years. Strength grew where survival once lived. Understanding replaced certain frustrations. Grace entered spaces that once held pressure… and the best part is, we are still doing it together.

We are still growing together.
Still learning each other.
Still choosing each other through every season life brings.

Truthfully, there is nothing I would take back about being my daughter’s mother.

Every difficult season shaped us.
Every hard lesson softened us.
Every storm taught us how to love each other more intentionally.

Motherhood no longer looks like perfection to me. Motherhood looks like evolving. Motherhood looks like sacrifice, presence, accountability, growth, and unconditional love that continues learning even after mistakes are made.

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My understanding of motherhood deepened even more through the evolution of my relationship with my own mother.

Growing older has a way of changing perspective. Wisdom eventually allows you to see your mother not only as “Mom,” but as a woman carrying responsibilities, disappointments, fears, sacrifices, and storms of her own while still trying to love you well.

Our relationship has strengthened beautifully over the years. Gratitude fills my heart when I think about how blessed I am to still have my mother here in the land of the living.

As I’ve gotten older and matured, what I misunderstood as strictness and tough love has morphed into a greater sense of understanding. 

Mommy scared me the other day with some health concerns and she didn’t know it but I was losing it internally. Now that Babs has left us, Mommy is the eldest and she’s holding it down! It absolutely sucks to see her under the weather but God! He did it again!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾

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Life also blessed me with incredible women who have loved me like their own daughter.

Women who prayed for me.
Women who corrected me with love.
Women who checked on me genuinely.
Women who encouraged me to keep going.
Women who wanted me healthy, whole, successful, and emotionally well.

That kind of love changes a person.

Authentic care carries healing with it. Genuine support creates safety. Wise women create shelter for people they choose to nurture.

Motherhood exists in so many forms.

Some women give birth.
Some women mentor.
Some women cover others in prayer.
Some women pour wisdom into broken places.
Some women become safe spaces for people they did not biologically create.

All of it matters.

Thank you:

My first Godmother - Mrs. Annabelle Simmons

My Career Work Mom - Mother Kim Harris

My Godmother - “Gigi”, Ma Adrienne Clark

…just to name a few.

This Mother’s Day, gratitude sits heavily on my heart for every woman who helped shape me through different seasons of my life.

The women who raised me.
The women who guided me.
The women who protected me.
The women who loved me through storms.
The women who reminded me that softness still exists after survival.

Sunsets feel different when you have survived thunderstorms.

Perspective changes.
Gratitude deepens.
Love softens.
Healing becomes visible.

Life eventually teaches you that some of the most beautiful parts of yourself were developed while learning how to survive difficult weather.

Happy Mother’s Day. 🤎

~ Leslie A. Council