What is beauty?

Magazines, movies, TV will have you believe

It is a mold:

Flawless skin, no blemishes, no pores

Bodies so thin you get hungry on their behalf

Large breasts and pecs, long hair and long necks

They are wrong.

Beauty is falling in love with a newborn

When you thought you weren’t ready, couldn’t handle it

Then holding him for the first and realizing

He is your world now.

No one is ever really ready

But you are strong.

You are determined

You will do what it takes to make it work

And this child is worth every sacrifice…no matter what his father said

Unconditional Love is beauty.

Beauty is finishing your first semester

No social life, no free time, no sleep

All-nighters, crying baby... Crying mommy.

It is hard.

It is hard work. It is pushing hard.

It is being hard of hearing when others say you can’t.

You can. You did.

Straight As!!

And again the second semester. And the third.

No blow will stop you, no matter how hard.

Determination is beauty.

Beauty is trusting no one,

Choosing dates based on fahter potential rather than mommy’s wants,

Having little hope left of a bigger family.

So what? That little boy is all the love you'll ever need.

But then a best friend sends a message,

His honest heart on his sleeve,

Confessing long-festering love for you

From half-way around the world.

You... Nervous, shaking, mind-blown…excited?

Then you…confessing the same

Hope… Hope is beauty.

Beauty is a best friend becoming your truest love

It is seeing him come home from deployment safely

Talking about your future together

Planning the move to be together

All the way from TX to MT!

Then the move. The stress. The what ifs…

The arrival.

The huge, loving family

The mountains, the horses, the rodeos

The sunrises, the sunsets. The stars!

AND THE NORTHERN LIGHTS?!

Feeling warm in freezing weather

When your love calls your son, “our kid”

Ours.

Our son, our pets. Our routine.

Our quirks, our differences. Our first argument…

Our make-up kisses, our late night talks, our inside jokes.

Our life, our love, and our home…

Home.

Feeling at home for the first time in years

And somehow knowing this is your forever home…

That is happiness.

And happiness is beauty.