For some reason, the XX chromosome seems to breed very strongly in my family, in more ways than one.
For example, my maternal grandmother had seven sisters and three brothers, and my mother has six sisters and three brothers. And in my own immediate family, there are two daughters and one son.
And a common characteristic that seems to be shared among the women in the family is a dominating spirit. A lot of people I know don't react very warmly to the word 'dominating', but I think that is the single characteristic I am most proud of the women in my family.
That is the very same characteristic that saw my grandmother through in raising her sisters up along with her own children. And it is the very same characteristic that carried my mother through in raising up her own children, in the face of so much adversity.
It could also be said that it was the same characteristic that carried me through my own life's struggles, though I can't say I remember the pain that haunted me so painfully years ago anymore. The odd thing is, I don't think I could ever be as strong as my mother was with her struggles, and I suspect my mother herself feels that she could never be as strong as I was with my struggles.
The women in my family didn't seem to have very easy lives. But the love I witnessed during my grandmother's funeral shared between them was amazing. It is that same love that carried each other through their most difficult times. And maybe that's why my mother is amazed and why she doesn't think she could take on my struggles, because I never had that kind of love.
I had a greater love though. The love of a God who had held me when I nearly gave up on everything.
No Greater Love
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