And that was the night my life changed.
Not because the next 2 years would be consumed by health struggles and hurdles, because although those changed my body, it was my mind that was changed that night.
The way I thought about life, and the way I had been living it, would never be the same.
It’s hard to explain motherhood to someone who hasn’t experienced it, but the best way I have heard it described is that a piece of your heart walks outside of your body once your child is born. And as the paramedics arrived that night and began their work, I realized that if those were to be my final moments, the tiny piece of my soul that was crying out my name from the next room would never have a chance to know me. In fact, she wouldn’t even remember me. All she would have is what I left behind; pictures, written notes, and most importantly, the stories people told her of me.
And I asked myself on that ride to the hospital, what would those stories be?
And I didn’t like the answer.
So I made the decision to change it.
As a mother, as a parent, as someone who walks this earth and interacts with others, I ask you to ask yourself, what will be said about you when you are gone?
Are you kind? Are you gentle? Are you giving? Are you loving? I am.
