Finding Beauty...

One of the things I have discovered about being a mother is the ability to find amazing beauty and joy in the most unexpected things. Like seeing Beth first thing in the morning, with her crazy bedhair and thinking she is the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. Or looking at her scribbly drawings and thinking they are wonderful masterpieces. Or looking at this bunch of leaves.

The day before we came back to Adelaide, Phan, Beth and I went to the park. Beth wasn't interested in playing on the playground on this particular day... she just wanted to potter around on the grass... and then she discovered fallen leaves on the ground ... She walked around and picked them up one at a time and brought them to me. Yes - the leaves were dried, dead and a bit ugly... but she found such joy in giving me each one of these leaves, that I just couldn't bear to just throw them away after all the effort she gone through to collect and give them to me. So I took them home with me and took a photo of them before I scattered them in the garden. So to the average person, this is a collection of ordinary, ugly leaves. But to me they represent my baby girl growing up. And demonstrates the unconditional love I have for her that puts a rosy tint on these leaves and makes me treasure them as a precious gift that a daughter gave her mother.