The day I gave birth to my daughter, I called my mother immediately and no one answered. Little did I know that she had taken a turn for the worst and was in the hospital, dying. I had to take my newborn baby on a plane, cross country, so my mother could see her before she died. It was one of the saddest moments of my life and one that I will never forget.
After we buried my mother, I flew back to California with my daughter and my then husband who had come just for the funeral. AT least I wasn't alone this time on a cross country flight . When I walked back into our house, I was hit in the stomach with the fist of depression. It was the mother lode of post natal depression, accompanied by a husband who was as cold to me as the cement on the sidewalk in front of our house. I have never felt so alone in my life, and the pain in my heart was overbearing.
Two days later, my daughter seemed warm when I was changing her diaper, so I immediately called the doctor. He told me I had to take her temperature and I asked him how I could possibly keep the thermometer under her tongue that long. Realizing what a rookie mother I was, he explained that I had to do it rectally. I almost fainted, as I had no idea that was even a possibility. As I tried to do it, I panicked and started crying hysterically, thinking the whole time that I would kill her in the process. Right at that moment, there was a knock at my door. It was a neighbor that I had met a few times, but barely knew. She asked me how I was doing since she had just heard that my mother died. As I burst out crying, she took me into her arms, giving me a hug that made me feel I was no longer alone. She proceeded to tell me that she was a retired nurse and immediately took the thermometer to take my baby's temperature. I never felt so relieved or happy to see someone in my life. She turned out to be the light I needed in my darkness. She became my support for the next two years, by dropping by every morning to see how we were doing and reassuring me that I did, after all, have what it takes to be a mother. Sadly, she too got breast cancer and moved away to be closer to her son. I hope she knew how much she meant to me and how forever grateful I will be for the kindness. She is the greatest present I ever received.
As the years have gone by, I realize that she was an angel, sent to me by another angel, my mother. There are no coincidences in life.
That is a bittersweet story. Yes, it does sound like she was sent to look over you! by someone who loved you the most.
Posted by: kim | June 07, 2008 at 05:29 PM