How would your children remember you?
Filed under: Moms, Emotions, Celebrity parents, Making a Difference
This week, a post at the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog, about John and Elizabeth Edwards taking their children with them on the campaign trail, had everyone buzzing. The blogger took issue with Mrs. Edwards' choice, and in the original post, called Mrs. Edwards a "terrible mother." (She has edited the post to retract that.) The issue, for most SVMoms readers, came down to this: Mrs. Edwards has terminal cancer; her time with her children is limited. To say that the doesn't have the right to spend that time with her kids, even if it is on a campaign bus, is inappropriate. Of course, the post was about more than that; it was about politics and the media and the scramble to find a good Democratic candidate for the Presidency. But that idea of time with your children struck a chord. At Notes from the Trenches, Chris wrote an impassioned response:
"Sure if I were dying I have a vision of how I would my children to remember me. Perfectly patient. Perfectly happy. The singer of songs, player of games, skipper of ropes. The mother who served up perfect meals, that were always enjoyed, and did so with a smile on her face. The mother who always had a dessert to put on the table. A home made one, not tossing a box of Little Debbie snack cakes in the center and yelling, 'Every man for himself.'
"Apparently I want them to remember someone else. Because I have no plans to actually become that new person."
This morning, I heard a clip of Prince Harry talking about how he and his brother remember their mother, the late Princess Diana. He described her as genuine and fun, which seems like the most a parent can hope their children will remember. Most of us don't live lives that are as public or embattled as Elizabeth Edwards or Princess Diana; we have ample opportunity to shape how our children will remember us, without the interference of the media or well-meaning bystanders. But it does bear thinking about.How will YOUR children remember YOU?Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments