“To the world you are a mother, but to your family you are the world.”

In the language of flowers, each flower symbolizes certain character traits. White roses represent purity and innocence, lilacs represent youth, and orchids represent love and thoughtfulness.

The character traits that are symbolized by an orchid represent a mother’s love quite well. Mothers are strong and resilient. They are full of unconditional love and support. They are thoughtful in the ways they try to meet and care for our needs. They are flawed and imperfect, but they have never given up on us. And as they grow older, they become more beautiful and precious over time simply because they are our mothers.

A mother’s love is often what nurtures and keeps us alive during our most vulnerable years. As the years pass by, they become increasingly more dependent on us for their quality of life. The world advances rapidly and society has no plans on slowing down for those who find it difficult to keep up. Our mothers whose bodies were once so strong grow frail and walking may become difficult. Their hearing may not be as sharp as it once was and oftentimes we find ourselves frustratingly repeating our words over and over again. Tempers may run high and more often than not, words that we do not mean are said in the heat of the moment.

Orchids represent a mother’s love well. When our strong and courageous mothers grow weary and tired, may all the love they have poured into us reflect back in the way we speak to them, the way we help them down the stairs, and the way we see them. We must now must be strong and resilient. We must be full of unconditional love and support. We must be thoughtful in the ways we try to meet and care for their needs. We are flawed and imperfect, but we can not give up on them. Because even when our mothers are tired and weary, their love for us is still like an orchid’s.

With love,

Grace