she + i

May 23, 2013 Angie, cl/cp 3 Comments

she and i spend a lot of days like this.

AngieMay2

her in my arms, snuggling, giggling, crying, jabbering about all types of things.
though my arms tire, my heart never does.

holding a wee one in their greatest as well as saddest moments is of the deepest treasures not just in motherhood, but life in general.

i am deeply moved by brave birth moms and foster moms who hold children for brief moments but love for a lifetime.

relief workers, doctors, selfless friends who care for orphans lost in the system…not knowing what the future holds for the sweet children they are blessed to have cared for, but knowing each one is a unique and fantastic ball of potential.

to love a child deeply…even from afar when oceans or death separates…is one of the most beautiful and painful blessings that God created.

angieMay

i am ever grateful for the people who cared for my daughter when an ocean separated.

it strikes me at random moments…the knowledge that we have an extended family we won’t ever know.

it’s painful and sad and perhaps the most difficult part of our journey as a family. it isn’t just for her to bear alone. she will not grieve by herself when she one day realizes the loss she suffered in her early moments of life. we will all grieve with her. the loss of one’s first family is perhaps the greatest of all losses, second only to losing a child, which emery’s birth family has suffered. there aren’t many words i can say to make it “all better.” but i will hold her. i will talk when she wants to talk. be silent when she wants to be silent. and i will never let her story be far from my lips. not because she is always “adopted” but because she is always my child and her story is important. her birth family is important even though we may never know the circumstances that led to their painful choice. we know God created a most fantastic treasure from their bloodline. He fashioned her in her birth mother’s womb in a most perfect way. i am grateful to the woman who carried my child when i physically couldn’t. but it is painful. i cry any time i think of her, this woman we know so well (because we know her child). i know she must have been fantastically bright and witty. she most likely had incredibly long and full dark hair and piercing large, deep brown eyes. she was most likely petite and slender, with the most perfect of all golden skin. she most likely ate lots of noodles, eggs, rice, green vegetables, potatoes and fruit when she was pregnant because her daughter prefers those items to all others. and i believe she loved the child in her womb. she chose to carry her and give birth to her. that is love.

i will never understand it all, but i don’t shy away from processing it.
because she + i is the most beautiful of all gifts and deserves thought and time. walking alongside of my child through the deepest of all pain is a journey i am honored to be a part of.





3 responses to “she + i”

  1. Roberta says:

    Love this post!!!

  2. Amy Rotger says:

    This speaks my heart so clearly and beautifully. So very blessed by this post. Thank you!

  3. Linda Reid says:

    I have two amazing girls from China and have many talks and shared tears about extended family and foster Moms that are missed. I am no writer so I’d like to thank the writer for putting so many of my thoughts and feelings into words..

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