Last night, my daughter Emma e-mailed me a photo taken by her husband Jay of her with Robin, her daughter. Emma turned 36 last week, that was startling in and off itself, I don’t think of her as a small kid, but I guess I don’t think of her as being in her mid 30’s either.

I think of her as being bright and loving and the most wonderful and attentive and conscientious mother, you can see the bond between them forming. I can’t say I ever had a bond like that in my life, one way or the other until Maria, but it warms my heart to see it here.

Emma is giving Robin the greatest gifts you can give a child – she is happy, grounded, she has her own life, and she is very much tuned into her daughter. She knows when she needs to be soothed, and she is secure enough to know that Robin needs time away from her as well.

When I was a television producer, we often booked a famous pediatrician  -Dr. T. Perry Brazelton –  on the program and I asked him one day what really made a good mother. He didn’t hesitate, he said a good mother is a happy person. One with balance and meaning in her life.

I accept that I cannot for many reasons be an integral part of either of their lives. Sometimes that makes me sad, but mostly I accept it. We chart our courses in life and take responsibility for them. I am where I need to be, and so are they. Our paths cross occasionally. But Emma has kept me in the picture in many ways, and so I do feel a part of this new life.

Emma is a good mother. Robin is a very happy child, she is, I believe getting what she needs to be a fulfilled and grounded person.