Cherishing Motherhood: I Get to be the One

"I Get To Be The One"

Well hello,
Little baby.
Your eyes have never seen the sun
You should know
Little baby
That I am the lucky one

I get to be the one to hold your hand
I get to be the one.
Through birthdays and broken bones
I'll be there to watch you grow
I get to be the one.

Don't feel alone now,
Little baby.
Do you hear me singing you a song
I can't wait to show you
Little baby
How to crawl
How to walk
And how to run

I get to be the one to hold your hand
I get to be the one.
Through birthdays and broken bones
I'll be there to watch you grow
I get to be the one.

How does someone so small
Hold my heart so tightly
I don't even know you
I love you completely

I get to be the one to hold your hand
I get to be the one.
Through birthdays and broken bones
I'll be there to watch you grow
I get to be the one to hold your hand
I get to be the one.
Through birthdays and broken bones
I'll be there to watch you grow
I get to be the one.

-JJ Heller, for my sister Cate, who has a person inside of her right now :)

Old people are people too.

This is what my dear friend, and former roommate said about her grandpa when I asked how he was doing.

I found it so moving that I wrote it down on a sticky note in the middle of our conversation.  It made me tear-up.

Julia taught me so much about loving old people.  She is so good at it!  She taught me how to make sugar-free cookies, how to hold their hand, how to laugh & respond to their incomprehensible comments, and how to ask about their families and childhoods.

Julia taught me how to treat people like people even when people smell terrible.

Her grandpa isn't in the greatest health and it's so tough when your emotional and physical health start failing all at once.  Growing old is hard because I've seen and smelled and touched it and if it weren't for growing old and failing health, I wouldn't have had a job in college.  I've worked at two nursing homes.

Slow-dying is hard.  Your mind decays along with your body and you do things that in the prime of life you could only imagine doing: wetting your bed, throwing food on the floor, falling out of a wheelchair...being in a wheelchair.

But regardless, all of those old people that I've played scrabble with over the years, whose messes I have cleaned up for $10/hour, and whose bedsore bandages I have changed I know one thing:

THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS.

For this reason, I loved my healthcare experience and I will never forget the PEOPLE that I met, served, and formed relationships with, difficult though it was--it was so hard.

And I'll never forget how Julia taught me that making someone smile is a skill whose worth cannot be underestimated.

I hope her grandpa has a week of easy smiling, don't you?

Top Ten Reasons to Choose Life

I just googled "top ten reasons to choose life" because I wanted to just hear 10 positive reasons that people matter.  I got nothing.  So I'm gonna create this list because it needs to be out there.

Why would we call ourselves Pro-Life if we cannot even get beautiful reasons to love our children on the first 3 pages of a google search?

Here goes:

TEN REASONS TO CHOOSE LIFE:

1) Your baby is beautiful, even though it's teeeeeny tiny!

2) Pregnancy unites your and your partner on a journey that will change your lives!
3) When you're pregnant, for the last 3 months you are SUPPOSED  to eat more food.
4) Your child could end up doing anything, everything, and change the world.
5). Everything about your baby will be a reflection of you and your partner--a mini-you yet still unique!
6) Pregnancy is what the female body is supposed to do.  Fatherhood is what the male body is supposed to do biologically and socially and spiritually.  It feels right to do what you're supposed to do.
7) You will have to sacrifice for your child, but your whole life a voice will say, "Mom" or "Dad" and mean you--only you.
8) Babies are the best excuse to celebrate: baby showers, birthday parties, first Christmases, first day of schools, etc.
9) The world only gets one of you and it only gets one of your child.  We need your baby and your baby needs you!
10) Life is a gift.  Give it.

Choose life!

***Of course, every situation isn't easy, every pregnancy isn't supported, every father isn't around, and every baby isn't "perfect" but you, as a mom, can give your baby the best life you are able regardless.  It's your chance to give someone a gift that they don't deserve.  You have power to bestow: LIFE***