It's easy to see why I feel so loved.

My sisters are going to love this post, and understand it more than anyone else. It is their legacy, as well. I am sure it will touch them, as these experiences have touched me.
As a child, I knew my parents loved me. I knew that they would always be there for me. When I was hurt, my mother's voice was the one I wanted to comfort me. It always did, and it still does. When I needed help, I knew that my father would be there and would have the answers I needed. He often has answers for me, now as well. As a child, however, I couldn't understand what that love was like from their point of view. Now as a mother of five, living again in their home, I have been privy to some of the most precious sights of my life. I have, as a mother myself, watched my parents with all of their grandchildren, and I recognized immediately the love in their eyes and voices. In many ways, and some of the best ways, it is like being a child again.
The other day, I was sitting on the sofa in the family room and I heard my father talking to my 8 month old niece who was sitting on the table in her carseat. I glanced over and was immediately overwhelmed by the most penetrating feeling of love. The look on my father's face was one of complete devotion and adoration. I remembered my father telling me about when I was an infant. He would take me from my mother's arms in the morning and I would sit in a baby seat at the kitchen table while he did homework. I know that a mind can't remember experiences from such an early age but my heart recognized that devotion. I knew that I had once been the recipient of those adoring looks. I knew why I have always felt so precious and so loved.
My mother has given an enormous amount of care to her grandchildren in the last few years, and how lucky those children are. Watching her is inspiring to me. She is ever patient and incredibly loving. People talk about how great grandchildren are. . . and my mother is no exception. She loves those babies. Here's the thing though, I remember being loved by her to that same tender degree. She was exceptional an exceptional Mother. There are quite a few very tiny grandchildren in the family right now, and they have all had ample opportunity to spend time with her. She feeds, burps, diapers and puts them down for naps, cuddles and coos and cherishes them. She is an exceptional Grandmother. As I see her, I am reminded that I too was once her baby, so precious and important to her. I still feel her love today, though I am grown. I know she loves me. There is no substitute for a loving mother. I have been so very blessed.
There may not be anyone in this world more blessed than I am. It is a legacy that I can emulate with confidence and without reservation. I hope that my children will be able to look back someday and see that same love in their own lives. I hope that they will know that they were loved and feel capable of passing that love to their own beautiful children.