Pass the torch (to somebody): to give responsibility to someone Almost twenty nine years ago my mother lit my torch. I've tried my best to keep the flame shining brightly and to not let it go out over these last almost 29 years. I've been the keeper of that flame and I've been honored and privileged to be in the race.
Three years ago I lit the flame of the torch my daughter had just picked up. I went back again a couple of years later and lit another little flame of her additional torch and responsibilities. She was nervous and anxious about the second torch. Could she do it? Could she keep the flame going? Could she do the job that needed to be done? Could she keep both little flames burning brightly? Would she be a good keeper of the flame?
Even though a woman is made a mother in cooperation with her husband, I believe she becomes a mother because of the influence of her own mother. Usually it's the mother of the new mother who teaches her how to do what needs to be done. She demonstrates, she instructs, she encourages, she models and she gets out of the way when the time comes. The young mother looks back on how things were done in her home growing up and in large measure, she does what she was taught and in similar fashion to what she saw. And another generation of motherhood begins all over again. It's through trial and error, through experimentation, through tears and unbelievable joy, it's through discussion with other women, it's through watching good mothers and trying to emulate what they do, it's through never giving up that a woman becomes a good mother. Perfect? No. Striving daily? Yes.
The torch had been in the very capable hands of these two women. Grandma Mayme and Grandma Mamie. (How cool is that to have TWO Grandmothers named Mayme/Mamie?) They each brought their own skills and strengths to the assignment when they picked up their own torches. They each had different trials and successes, and they were each victorious in the end. They stayed in the race. They kept going. They laughed. They cried. And they raised some excellent children. They were exemplary mothers to the very end.
And this good mother is my own (although I do share her with six siblings.) She gave me every tool I needed to succeed. She lit my torch and she stood by to assist if I asked for help. Because of her, I am who I am today. No question about it. She passed a mighty torch and shared her love of motherhood. I'm honored to be a mother. It gives my life meaning and purpose. I've stumbled, I've fallen, I've gotten back up and kept going. It's hard, hard work. But those things in life that come with a price, that come through effort and striving, are always the things that we value most in the end. I love my husband and my four little torches who have taught me, who have been patient with me and who have helped me keep the torch burning, ready to pass on to another generation of torch bearers.
