Children reinvent your world for you -- Susan Sarandon, actress
I'm going to a baby shower this weekend, something I haven't done for probably fifteen years.
It's for my good friend Holly, who is 40 and expecting her first child in January. A small group of us, representing Holly's friends and relatives, have been invited to a combination Sunday brunch and baby shower.
Each guest was asked to bring a wish, a quote, or a poem to express our love for the mother-to-be. The quote I found most meaningful is from the author Elizabeth Stone: Making the decision to have a child is momentous. For the rest of your life, your heart will be walking around outside your body.
You have to realize that I cannot even remember the last baby shower I went to -- was it in the early 1990s? Since probably half of my friends decided in their 20s and 30s that motherhood was not for them, the number of baby shower invitations I might have received over the years was drastically reduced. Although I do vividly remember one baby shower I attended, in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s. One guest had brought her three-month-old baby, and was actually passing him around the circle of women so that we could all "oooh" and "aaah." My reaction? I jumped up and went into the other room just before it was my turn to perform the obligatory "cooing."
Sometimes we spirited women are complex creatures. Since it's pretty clear I'm not a natural "baby person," my tolerance for being around children seems to be set somewhere around the 30-minute limit - I figure, my presence there is a sign of true friendship for Holly. I want her to know she will have my love and support in the new life that's rushing at her. She's made the momentous decision to have a child. And I will be there for her - no matter how I feel around kids.
Holly, a toast to you on your new life! Your friend, Linda.
Linda Jay Geldens, www.LindaJayGeldens.com
Click here for more of Linda's posts.
Comments