May: Honoring the Hands That Held Us
- Jun 7
- 4 min read
By Dr. Gabrielle T. Booker
There is something deeply sacred about the month of May.
Perhaps it is the warmth in the air, the blooming flowers stretching toward the sun, or the quiet reminder that beauty often grows after seasons of endurance. May arrives with softness, but also with strength. It carries the spirit of nurturing, resilience, renewal, and love—all qualities so deeply connected to motherhood.
And in the heart of May sits Mother’s Day, a celebration that reaches far beyond flowers, greeting cards, and Sunday brunches. It is a time to honor the women whose love shaped generations—the women who carried families, dreams, burdens, prayers, and sacrifices, often without recognition.
Motherhood is not simply a title.
It is a legacy.
Honoring Every Kind of Mother
When we think of Mother’s Day, many of us picture the women who raised us—the mothers who kissed scraped knees, prayed through sleepless nights, stretched impossible budgets, and somehow still found the strength to pour love into everyone around them.
But May also reminds us to honor motherhood in all its forms.
The grandmothers who became second mothers.
The aunties who stepped in when they were needed most.
The spiritual mothers who nurtured us emotionally and spiritually.
The women who mentor, guide, encourage, and love children not biologically their own.
The mothers grieving children.
The daughters grieving mothers.
The women longing to become mothers.
Every story connected to motherhood deserves tenderness and acknowledgment.
Because at its core, motherhood is about nurturing life, offering love, and showing up even when it’s difficult.
And that kind of love changes the world.
The Strength We Often Overlook
One of the most extraordinary things about mothers is how often their strength goes unnoticed.
Mothers carry emotional weight quietly. They worry in silence. They sacrifice privately. They keep families together while often putting their own needs at the bottom of the list.
Many women were taught that strength meant enduring without complaint. Smiling through exhaustion. Giving endlessly. Holding everything together no matter the cost.
But this May, perhaps we should redefine what strength truly means.
Strength is not only sacrifice.
Strength is also rest.
Strength is setting boundaries.
Strength is asking for help.
Strength is choosing yourself, too.
The unstoppable woman understands that caring for others should never require abandoning herself in the process.
And maybe that is one of the greatest lessons we can pass on to the next generation of women: that love should not come at the expense of your own well-being.
A Legacy Passed Through Generations
There are things mothers pass down that cannot be wrapped or placed into words.
Courage.
Faith.
Resilience.
Tradition.
Wisdom.
Survival.
Sometimes it’s passed through conversations around the kitchen table. Sometimes through silent examples witnessed over years. Sometimes through the way a mother keeps going, even after life has tested her in unimaginable ways.
Whether biological or chosen, the women who nurture us leave fingerprints on our hearts forever.
Many of us are who we are because a woman somewhere decided not to give up.
A mother prayed when she was tired.
A grandmother sacrificed when resources were limited.
A woman believed in us before we believed in ourselves.
That is legacy.
May Is Also for the Woman Becoming
While May honors mothers, it also honors the woman within every woman—the nurturer, the healer, the protector, the dreamer.
This month reminds us to nurture ourselves with the same compassion we so freely give others.
How often do women pour endlessly into everyone else while neglecting their own hearts?
May invites us to pause and ask:
When was the last time I cared for myself with tenderness?
When was the last time I celebrated my own growth?
When was the last time I allowed myself to rest without guilt?
The unstoppable woman understands that self-care is not selfish—it is necessary.
You cannot continue pouring from an empty place and expect to thrive.
Honoring the Complicated Emotions of Mother’s Day
For some, Mother’s Day is joyful. For others, it is deeply emotional.
Some women celebrate while grieving.
Some smile while healing from strained relationships.
Some carry the ache of absence.
Some are learning how to mother themselves after years of feeling unseen.
And all of those feelings are valid.
May teaches us that strength and softness can coexist. That joy and grief often sit beside each other. That healing is not linear, and neither is love.
This month, let us make room for every woman’s story—not just the polished ones, but the honest ones too.
A Tribute to Women Everywhere
This May, honor the women who carried you, prayed for you, nurtured you, and loved you into becoming who you are today.
Honor the mothers who gave everything they had.
Honor the women still learning to choose themselves.
Honor the caregivers, the protectors, the encouragers, and the survivors.
And while you celebrate others, do not forget to honor yourself too.
Because every woman carries the power to nurture life, inspire growth, and create change in ways both seen and unseen.
So this May, may you embrace softness without weakness, strength without hardness, and love without losing yourself in the process.
And may every woman reading this remember:
The same hands that hold others together deserve to be held with love too.
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