I’ve experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows on this Hallmark holiday. I bet you have, too.

In this community of Warrior Women, we acknowledge, hold, and honor the fullness of the female experience, especially on days like this. After all, don’t we all simply want to be seen? We both belong to one another and are better together.

Your whole story matters, Warrior. May these words meet you exactly where you are this weekend. (adapted from “The Wide Spectrum of Motherhood” by Amy Young.)

FOR THE WOMAN WHO…

* gave birth this last year, we’re overjoyed with you

* lost a child, we grieve with you

* is caring for all the needs of little ones, we see your exhaustion

* has experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoption, estrangement, or running away, we lament with you

* walks the seemingly impossible path of infertility-fraught with appointments, pokes, prods, heartache, and tears, we hold you

* is a foster mom, mentor mom, and spiritual mom, we need you

* is a single momma carrying the full weight of parenting, we will carry it with you

* has warm and close relationships with your children, we love that for you

* has disappointment, heartache, and distance with your children, we sit with you

* lost her mother, we weep with you

* experienced abuse from her mother, we validate your experience

* has lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood, we learn from you

* has experienced abortion, we remember them and you on this day

* is single and long to be married and mothering children, we ache that life has not turned out the way you’ve hoped

* is experiencing secondary infertility, we hurt with you

* is a step-parent, we walk with you on these complex paths

* has unfulfilled dreams of grandchildren, we yearn with you

* will have an emptier nest coming soon, we agonize and rejoice with you

* has released a child to be adopted, we honor that excruciating decision and remember how you hold that child in your heart

* is pregnant with new life–whether planned or surprising, we anticipate with you

Because this Hallmark holiday is both wonderful and terrible, forgive us when we say ignorant, unaware, or hurtful things because of our our limited experiences. We will do better moving forward.

This Mother’s Day, we see all our unique stories and journeys with motherhood. We’re better together, especially through life’s hard moments. Mothering in all its forms is perhaps the most difficult work in the world and we have real Warrior Women in our midst.

WE SEE YOU.