Postcard #2

My most memorable “Wide-Awake” moment: reflection on M. Greene’s article and the class exercise with chairs.
March 14, 2001. I was 6 days past my due date with my first child. Earlier in the day, I was at the hospital having a procedure done to be induced the next day. It was quite a painful experience. That evening, I anxiously sat in the rocking chair which was bought for the new baby, and was reflecting on what the day was like, how I had carried a child for 9 months, and what it would be like to actually give birth and be a mother. Words cannot fully describe what I was feeling that night.
Everybody is born through labour and birth, and if you have a child you have given birth. I was in awe, and was overwhelmed with much respect and wonder for human beings especially women. For as long as people have been around, this is how people were born, through childbirth. Thinking about myself doing the same continuing the legacy, I felt so empowered and humbled at the same time. Tomorrow, I was going to have a very personal experience, yet also a very universal one. I felt that I was going to make a mark in this world and also find my place in the universe.
Benjamin Russell was born March 16, 2001 at 1:37am after 17 hours of labour. He was 7lb 7ozs and 21.5 inches long. He was beautiful.
My motherhood began in this rocking chair that I sit and rock today. Being in the league of mothers; I am profoundly grateful and proud.