Mamas around the World: Sisters, Warriors, Protectors. Meet Svetlana.

We Gardners have been TRAVELING! In the last two years, we've visited five countries. In each place, we've stayed 2-6 months. "Slow travel" is fun...and also exhausting. I (Adina) have learned a LOT, though. One of the most important:

             WE MAMAS ARE ALL SISTERS. WE ALL STRUGGLE TO GIVE OUR KIDS THE BEST.

With that in mind, I'd like to share some stories from mamas around the world. Each Mama in this series will be sharing how THEY decided to instill a Legacy of Love in their child even after intense hardship, loneliness, fear, childhood abuse or domestic violence.

Our first Mama is Svetlana: Here is how she wished to introduce herself.

                                          SVETLANA

Life is definitely a mysterious and epic journey. I never would have imagined *living the dream* in the jungles of Costa Rica. However as a fortieth(!) birthday present to myself I decided to sell all my belongings and move permanently from Canada to Malpais/Santa Teresa in Costa Rica. I landed on the Nicoya Peninsula, known as a blue zone.

I was tired of the rat race, tired of the brutal cold winters of Canada and desired a more simple and natural approach to life. Five years later, I realized that I truly wished to have a loving relationship with someone.

This small tourist town was quite isolating at times and soon it became difficult to enjoy the beauty that surrounded me-  not to mention it was an expensive place to live on mediocre earnings. Just when I had given up on the dream and planned to return to Canada to reassess my situation I surprisingly met someone. It was a *fast and furious* romance. In the beginning we would fantasize about our future together and he would say, “wouldn’t it be great to raise a child in the jungle.” I would laugh and dismiss it knowing that the chances of getting pregnant at 46 years of age was, in my mind, virtually impossible.

Well lo and behold miracles do happen, sure enough we had a beautiful healthy baby boy at CIMA hospital in San Jose two weeks before my 47th birthday. This amazing blessing was the most profound and purest moment of my life. The joy and happiness I felt brought me to tears. All the years I had spent coming to terms with not having any children and then to become a mother was beyond words.
 
To quote Edgar Allan Poe:
 
Because I feel that
In the Heavens above
The angels, whispering to one another
Can find, among their burning terms of love
None so devotional as that of “Mother”


To be continued....Svetlana: Part II