June ran laughing the warm rain. It was monsoon season in Tucson, Arizona, and for a 5 year old, it meant splashing through puddles and getting soaked while running around through the much needed rain.
It's one my mom would tell me as she would dry my tears and kiss my sores. She would wrap me in her warm arms and tell me how much she loved me. She would tell me that it was when she was lost, that it was love that found her and brought her back.
The story of my birth became the point of reference for what that love meant. She would tell me that, at one point she looked up as the midwife turned briefly from her side and begged her not to go. She clung to her arm and looked at her eyes as another pain pulled her into herself. Her midwife understood where she had to go, as she had been there five times herself with each of her own children, and she allowed her to go there. Lights were dimmed and voices hushed as a woman was beginning her transformation into a mother.
It's hard to understand from the outside where a woman goes as a pain passes through her, while her new child is making their way into this world. The rest of the world is blotted out as the wave rolls through her, peaks, and slowly subsides. Then the hand on her arm is noticed once more and there is gratitude for the presence of another as she prepares herself for the roll of another wave.
The midwife looked down on this young woman, bringing life for the first time, and was filled with an immense amount of love and gratitude for what she was doing. And she stayed there. Just to catch her eye at the end of each contraction. She would softly listen to the rhythmic beat of my heart at intervals. My mom would say that her touch was filled with love, and that love was her balm. She then found the courage to fill her own soul with love, then she allowed that love to flow around me as I skipped my may into this world with a big belly cry.
Ok, so this story is about June. Not quite sure what's going to happen to her, but it'll have to do with overcoming trials and finding out what joy really means...and of course her life is going to be wound around birth and death(the two areas I've worked in and found great joy)so, let me know what you think June should experience:)
1 comment:
I've found this to be true in my own childbirth experiences. There is a zone, a place a woman goes when she's in labor, which allows her to experience everything without being overwhelmed by the experience. For me this is usually in active labor before transition. When transition hits, I usually need to look outward for support and really give my breaths a voice (low moaning as I exhale). It sounds very primal, and it works, and it's very beautiful at the same time.
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