Celebrating Living Life

Viola Davis, in her 2017 Oscars award acceptance speech, said, “[W]e are the only profession to
celebrate what it means to live a life.” She was talking about being an actor, an artist. And I agree,
art in all its forms is important to help people understand different aspects of life, different views,
and different ways to really live. However, I do not agree that acting is the only profession
celebrating“what it means to live a life”. I believe that the epitome of celebrating living life is 
being a mother or father.

Motherhood is nearly equivalent to life. It is mothers that bring the new life of an unborn child to
completion through pregnancy and childbirth. It is mothers who produce amazing nourishment
from their breasts that fills all food groups and nutrients for their infants. It is mothers who have a 
special bond with their children, and are the first responders for nightmares, skinned knees, and 
boy/girl troubles.

Fathers give their children the means to live life. It is fathers who provide a feeling of safety and
protection. It is fathers who ensure their children have food, clothing, and shelter so the children
can really live. It is fathers who help their children stretch their limits and learn to live a little more
bravely.

Parents together give their children life at conception. Parents together teach their children how to
live and why to live. Parents together give children an environment in which to live and learn and
grow. Parents live life to the fullest by creating new life and devoting their lives to those new lives.

Thank you, artists and actors, for celebrating and teaching us about living life.

Thank you fathers for celebrating and teaching us about living life, for providing the beginnings of
life, and for continuing to provide for your families so they can live a full life.

Thank you mothers for celebrating and teaching us about life, for providing the beginnings of life,
for raising us and helping us grow both before birth and after, for using your wonderful maternal 
instincts to make life truly worth living for everyone in your family.

Sometimes the roles are reversed. Sometimes there is a parent missing. But regardless the
circumstances, I believe parenthood is the epitome of celebrating “what it means to live a life.”