Mothering from a distance

To understand the helplessness a mother feels when she is separated from her children, you must first understand it's path through the body.

It is not born of the head

Nor of the heart.

It is not born of the womb or the blood.

It is born in an honest and humble place.

It is born from the place where a mother's body ties itself to the earth .

It is born

From the sole's of her feet.

Her feet that danced while cradling her new born babe in her arms.

Her feet which ran to her injured toddler to make the tears stop and the sunshine come back out in that babies' smile.

Her feet that would walk eight million miles just to hold her babies again for the space of a single moment.

Her world has become a square shape with four points of reference.

The first, when they left.

The second, how long they have been gone.

The third, how long until she holds them again.

The fourth, final and most important reference point for the separated mother.

The point which is frequently the most difficult to see.

The one which ties her world together.

It pulls her feet with forward momentum

Encouraging her to make it through another day

The day she will hold her children again

The day they will return to the safety of her arms.

To understand the helplessness of a mother who is separated from her children.

You must be a mother separated from her children.