A woman scrolled through her recent pictures to find a hideous image of herself looking like a beached whale. Horrified that someone else could see this picture she called her kids forward to make them confess who had so inconsiderately snapped this horrendous picture just to poke fun of their own mother.
When she asked about the photo she had discovered her young son quickly and excitedly piped up that he had taken the picture on their recent trip to Lake Tahoe. He saw how beautiful and relaxed she looked lying peacefully on the sand and wanted to show have a way to remember the moment. Beautiful? Peaceful? She had never in her whole life thought of those word to describe herself, her body, or her struggle with weight issues.
Realizing that her children did not see her as a loathsome sloth who did not care about her appearance she began to view herself in a more compassionate light. Just because she was not a model or could not fit into the tiny clothes in the window of most mainstream shops did not impact her ability to be a great and doting mother.
A devoted mom who used her thick thighs and arms to gracefully pluck her children from the hot sandy beaches or to soothe a scraped knee. A mother who instilled confidence, values, and unconditional love in her own offspring in a way she could not experience herself until now.