Have you ever thought about the first time you heard the term, “unconditional love” or did you experience it before knowing what it was? I remember hearing the term and at first thinking I never experienced it, but then with further thought I realized that there isn’t only one way to experience the concept of unconditional love.
According to the Urban dictionary, Unconditional Love is a know as affection without any limitations or love without conditions. It is a truest form of altruism, mostly associated with parental love for a child. I grew up raised by my grandparents, aunts, foster care and my mother, I questioned if I ever truly experienced unconditional love. Through conversations with friends and a lot of counseling, I realized my experience with unconditional love from my caregivers just looked and was presented differently then how society has packaged the concept and presented to us through television and movies.
In 1995 I gave birth to my first child. Before he was conceived I had a miscarriage and I had difficulty becoming emotionally attached to the pregnancy. I was scared to hope for a happy ending. It had been my experience that there wasn’t much that I wanted came to fruition. After 15 hours of active labor, my son was born 8:00 am. Back in 1995, my son wasn’t placed immediately on my chest, he was cleaned up, weighed and measured. while he was being measured, I caught a glimpse- of the human that was gestating in my womb for the past nine months. Malik’s head turned and I saw his eyes and in that moment, I knew what true love was. Love in its purest form, my only worry in that moment was did I know how to provide unconditional love.
Ten years later I gave birth to my daughter and once again the love was immediate, as it was with my youngest two years later. Three children to love, nurture, and provide for. Becoming a mother of three children has been the best sacrifice I have to do with my life. When we are young, we have dreams of aspirations to be the next big this, to create that, of great fame and granger. I never would have thought that my role as mother would be mine. As a child I loved my parents and grandparents unconditionally. Yes they were my providers, but my love was without bounds. Through the years love has a way of changing, morphing into something that looked different but still looks like love. Same as my love for my children. As they grow and mature my love for them is forever changing, never to anything less then what it originated as. As my oldest left home, I had to trust that my love was strong enough to be known through distance and time.
Deliberately dope 