Monday, July 30, 2012

SURF, SAND AND CHAR CHAR

Charlotte should have been with us at the beach this summer.  We had planned on taking her after my favorite Nurse Practitioner had asked why we thought we couldn't take her.  I remember that day, that conversation so clearly.  I was warm in the cold, dark radiology room.  It was so liberating to know that we could do and see all things with Charlotte.  Our baby would get to experience life. 

Despite her not being with us physically, she was very present...in our hearts and even making herself known in the sand!  I saw a few families with a big brother toddler and a baby sister and longed for the 'what it could have been' but remember that our reality is for a reason.  I may not understand that reason but I do trust, so that's what I lean on, even in heavier moments.  I remember watching her initials being washed away during high tide on the first night there.  Just as quickly as I wrote them, they were gone. Kind of similar to her short life, but unlike her initials in the sand, she lives on.





Monday, July 16, 2012

IN PRINT

Among the many talents which are my grandmother, she is an accomplished writer.  Recently, she shared her most recent piece, The Blessing of Charlotte, a poem written in honor of our sweet baby girl.  As I listened to her melodic voice read the words, I realized that it is a memory I'll always treasure.

THE BLESSING OF CHARLOTTE

What a beautiful child she was
Eyes so blue and hair so brown
With curling lashes and porcelain skin
And lips like rosebuds ready to sing
Who caused people to pray
Who had perhaps never prayed before
And wished for miracles everyday
Who cried real tears for one so young
Whose tiny life had just begun.

One thinks, perhaps, that's why 
The Lord kept her here that long
For the blessing of Charlotte
Will live on and on.
T.C.