Thursday, June 14, 2007

One year ago today


One year ago today, I was in Princeton, NJ. I was there awaiting the arrival of someone very precious to me....Clare Madalyn Bates. She was tardy...supposed to arrive the last day of May, but true to her genetics, she wanted to make her appearance on her terms.

Hers was the first birth besides my children's, that I have been privileged to see. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to watch my daughter work as hard as you must work to do this thing. But, it was extraordinary...she was extraordinary. Jennifer has always been capable of many amazing things, but to my mind, on this day in 2006, she surpassed all the many amazing things done previously.

There's something about giving birth, letting your body completely take you somewhere you've never been before and arriving on the other side that is both exhilarating and very empowering. I watched her let her body do what is was designed to do. I watched her work with it and not against it. It's hard to put into words what I felt when I saw Clare for the very first time. It was profoundly spiritual...and words never do that justice.