Sometimes life sends you wake-up calls even when you think you're walking with your eyes wide open. I must say that the past two weeks have been rather joyful in my home and my life. Not completely, of course, as things aren't ever perfect but the joy has kept me floating. You see, a piece that I wrote about my adoption journey was recently published in Redbook magazine. Recently meaning it's in the current May issue, on stands now. (Helen Hunt is in the front. My Husband thinks this is outstanding!) You can find it online here or starting on page 202 in the print edition.

I've been beaming. It's my first print-published piece. I've talked about it on my personal blogs, read and reread my piece and generally oozed joy over this accomplishment. I feel proud. I feel that I represented my story in an easily digestible manner for those who may not understand the ins and outs of adoption. I feel that the work I have been doing up to this point has lead me here and that I have done something real for once.

Then I sat down and really read the other personal essays that accompanied mine in the collaborative article. It was strangely comforting and disheartening at the same time. The article itself features those parts of motherhood that aren't easy; the ones that we don't talk about because they hurt. The other personal essays include stories of pregnancy loss, complications, abortion, premature birth and postpartum psychosis. They, too, are stories of loss, grief and a fight for something. They each resonated on different levels with me.

And that's the point of sharing our stories, no? Because even if another mother hasn't experienced x-thing, it's possible to see ourselves in her shoes, isn't it? It's possible to relate to something she has said because of something else we have experienced, isn't it? It's possible to see the light at the end of our own dark tunnel because another mother made it through her own, isn't it?

And so, on a new level, I'm glad to have contributed to this specific piece at this specific time. I'm doing some pretty heavy healing work in my own life right now. I'm struggling with different aspects of my journey and having to step back and remind myself what is most important (that being my daughter, of course). Reading these stories, I am reminded that we're all just trying to make our way through this life in the best possible way we can and that sometimes things are really going to be hard. Truth is, however, we're never alone. Maybe you haven't placed a child for adoption. Maybe I haven't experienced a still birth. But as women and mothers, we can support each other through the hard times.

Something to keep in mind as we near the "month of Mother's Day." Hmm.

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For more on motherhood, read these posts.



Photo Credit: Jenna Hatfield, 2008.