This week I was walking down the aisle of a local store when my eyes caught view of a woman, maybe in her late 60s, walking hand in hand with a woman in her 90s. They were walking very close to each other, in a very endearing way. I just knew they were mother and daughter. They each had a look of devotion in their eyes.

A pang went through my heart. Not only was this sight beautiful, but it also made me miss my mom, terribly. Oh, how I’d love to hold her hand as we walked down the aisle of a grocery store. I loved my mom’s hands. We’d always talk about the ridges in her fingernails, which I am now getting in mine. Mom’s hands were always busy in the kitchen cooking for her family or for guests. I think about my hands as I prepare for many dinners in my home. Mom worked the garden soil and canned. I’ve followed in her steps. She had a love for children, using her hands to prepare weekly Sunday school lessons, year after year. I love my Balcony Girls! We both have tied aprons around our waists as we geared up for giving out. We both have loved our husbands and families, deeply. We both have taken Motherhood very seriously, as God’s highest calling. And I see how God has used us both – by using our hands.

As I turned to my daughter and said, “Abby, do you mind if I hold your hand right now?” She said, “Sure Mom!”

So we walked around the store holding hands. She didn’t care and I didn’t care.

I came across this beautiful picture of my Mother giving her mother a hug, back in 1978. Although this photo is old, I could feel through their body language and glowing facial expressions a life of love and devotion. I know that my Mother felt the same way about her mom, as I do for her.

Even though Mom and Grandma are both gone now, I can’t help looking back at their love and zest for life – both contributing to this world by reaching out to others. Their hugs were real. There was no guile or deceit in the way they lived their lives.

Hugs and hand-holding have become real to me. They’re ways of reaching out and touching the one you are with. As I find myself walking alongside older friends, who are involved in my life, I realize that they stepped in at the perfect time – to be there for my family and me. If you saw them today, they’d each tell you that I occasionally will grab their hand, and hold it tight!

I’m thankful for all the special women in my life. And for the gift of Motherhood!

And thank you, Abby, for letting me hold your hand, just this week. And for my boys, who never say “no” when I reach for their hand!