When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This encouraging and common phrase suggest optimism in the face of adversity. Lemons symbolize the “sour” curve balls life throws at us. We all know dang well those curve balls that catch you by surprise. Some hit you wack in the eye and blur your vision to what comes next. I want to take this post to celebrate the lemonade makers. Especially the women who still make the sweetest lemonade out of the most sour lemons. The women who are the portal of new life. For nine months they house a life, providing everything necessary to enter the world. The growing and birth pains endured. Whether natural or c-section, their life was placed at risk for their child. What greater love there is to lay your life for another. If you haven’t heard your birth story, ask your mom if you’re privileged enough to have her. Many times, it’s a story of how adversity was conquered from the very moment she heard your heart beat. How that unconditional love was the driving force to withstand the lemons life threw her for years. Ask her how she did that lemonade. Have you considered the women who struggle with fertility. The ones blessed to get pregnant but never to birth their dream. The ones who keep trying, just to see life move forward at a fast pace. The ones who settled with their fate and still build a nurturing life. Their motherly instinct still is present with children not of their own, with the way they care for animals or nature, and the way they stand for others rights. These women may not have offspring but still have a legacy. Don’t overlook them, learn from their lemonade for it was made with many sour lemons. How about the women who loved and nurtured just to have their children stolen from their lives in a kidnap or a premature death. The tears these women shed are plenty and often go unseen. Time heals all wounds people say...but in their hearts the wounds remain. Think about how these women deal with the haunting memories of losing a child and still have the strength to move forward in life. They have taken the bitter lemons and some managed to make a lemonade even if they did not want to. The women who witness their children make bad life choices. Who have to endure the pain to see their child commit crimes and face consequences for those crimes. Who carry the guilt, even if their not guilty. Who pray consistently for the well being of their children. Who sees them? Who comforts their pain? They are often condemned by others for the action on their child. They carry a load many cannot comprehend but still push through. In the darkness with no direction, they still manage to make lemonade. The women who are abandoned to raise a family on their own. Who wake up early and go to bed late. Who work two jobs to pay bills. Who work in undesirable circumstances for the sake of providing for their family. Who work past exhaustion just to have some quality time with their kids. Who have to heal from betrayal and unfair circumstances in the midst of raising their child. They face many lemons but still squeeze them enough to make their lemonade. The women diagnosed with a not so good health report. Who have to encourage their selves to encourage their family. The ones that cry when no one is looking and pretend to be strong in their weakness. Who work past their frailties to leave a powerful imprint. These women have lemons thrown at them unexpectedly, yet they find time to make lemonade for others. The women who have special needs children. They start with the burden of how they could have prevented the outcome. Who tirelessly devout themselves to care for their children while going on full “momma bear”mode when their protection is breached. Who mourn silently the future they had in mind for their kids but lovingly seek a new path for their well being. You are seen, you are celebrated lemonade maker! Lemons can come in all stages of life. That’s for sure. Not everyone has a recipe at first but trials will make you learn to squeeze the best of what was given to you. Lemonade makers can be any age and any gender. I have chosen this season to highlight the women who stand out for their lemonade. On this Mother’s Day, I will celebrate all the lemonade makers because I learned from the best one out there, my mother. Acknowledge and cherish the lemonade makers. Celebrate them every day! For many have gone beyond making lemonade and truly made something sweet despite the sour they faced. Remember when life gave HER lemons, she made lemonade.
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