Gauges, Rhythms and Strings

I have this running gauge that began to run and move when I became a mom. All moms seem to have this. I wonder if any knew? I didn’t. I didn’t know that when it “came to life” that it would never stop. (I understand my mom a little better now.) The first type of things that began to monitor almost unconsciously was the comfort/food gauge. When the kids were babies, it was like a timer going off. A click- click subconsciously turned into action, checking the rhythms. Time to eat? Does he need a diaper change? Is he comfortable? As more babies came, more gauges sprang to life. Like clocks indicating the time around the world, they are all there displaying differences as unique as the individual. Nowmy babies are “big people”. You’d think the clock would slowly stop. It doesn’t. As they’ve grown older the gauges changed, of course, but they never stop. Things like emotional security, spiritual awareness and many more categories are added to the gauge. If anything, it becomes more elaborate and sophisticated with time. It’s like a sixth sense. It’s not a gauge that controls anything…it’s a gauge of sensitivity and awareness; opening the door of opportunity to support, love and invest. A few weeks ago, Londa and I were in the airport (let’s just say we had an adventurous day there). We were hurrying from concourse to concourse trying to catch a flight. So many people all going somewhere. Some working, some vacationing, some ??? who knows? The funny thing was recognizing other moms tuned into the gauges of their loves. Some interactions were by phone. We heard pieces of conversations passing by. Mom on the phone as she hurries by. She says” I know honey, you just have to be patient…he…” another mom: “I think we’ll have those baguettes, you know the ones…” Another mom I saw, she was helping her child learn to roll her suitcase saying “You can do it”. Many moms were carting children to restrooms at the “appropriate” time. Some moms laughing on the phone and I envision the child on the other end of the phone, excited to tell the tale of the day. Another mother/grandmother we met told us all about the grandbaby and how much they loved spoiling her rotten.
I was struck with the beauty of it all. The way I see moms engaged in listening and responding to their “gauge” is telling. I wonder if it takes age to realize how enriched your/our life becomes as we care for others? I’m not sure.
The gauge begins in your heart and the invisible string connects to your baby. I think it may begin as the heartbeat of the baby begins to pump…as the moms heartbeat sets the pace, the baby’s heart adds the counter beat- a beautiful duet of rhythms that never stop. Right now there is an elaborate web of connections surrounding the globe; a synchronized beating between the ones we love, no matter how far. I have strings all around me, and one in particular reaches all the way to Kansas City. There is no force on earth that brakes this living rhythm string.