I am overwhelmed today with the beauty of my daughter.
We
celebrated her 1st birthday a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful
celebration of life. We invited our "village." The amazing amazing
family and friends that have surrounded us as we have been raising our
daughter in her first 365 days of life.
And more
tears have fallen in the past couple of weeks then in all of the first
year of her life. They are tears of.... I don't know... probably a mix
of joy but also probably some tears of grief and relief.
Her
1st birthday was much more than a celebration of her 1st year of life,
it was much more than a celebration of the amazing village that loves
her and has loved her even before she was born. For me, it was the
anniversary of the end to the darkness and the beginning of a new
chapter. And the beauty that flows out of this new chapter is so hard
to fathom, it brings me to my knees.
I have said it
here before, and I will say it again- holding a child in my arms is not
the cure all for all of life's woes, nor does it erase the pain and woundedness
of years of loss and infertility, but the profound joy that trickled
into my world like a ocean wave the day she has born has only continued
to multiple. the joy is uncontainable.
Her birth for
me was the end of a very dark journey, one that I wish no one knew. But
a journey that forever will be my story and will be part of the fabric
of who I am. The days, weeks, months, and years of longing often
brought me to the edge wondering if I could take it any longer. The
waiting upon waiting...without knowing how it would end broke me in ways
that I shudder to remember.
And yet, I did not
break. Instead, who I am today is a delicate interwoven story of
strength, joy, and gratitude that well up from those near broken places
in me.
I know without a doubt that infertility gave me a
gift- a gift that allows me to hold my daughter with a bit more
intensely, knowing how long she was longed for. It gave me a gift of
awareness that no matter how frequently and easily others seem to
announce they are pregnant (again), that I know that every life that
comes to be is a miracle too big to comprehend. And it will take a
lifetime I think to even begin to comprehend the miracle that runs into
my arms each day with slobbery kisses and wonderful hugs.
