The missing person is my mother who died of breast cancer at age 57, one month before I became pregnant with Holly. A gaping hole in my life. Having raised two children she could not stay to enjoy the blessings of grandchildren. I could not call to tell her the news that I was pregnant or share all that unfolds thereafter. We were both cheated.
Life can be so outrageous.
The intervening years of my life have been a tapestry of raising children, working in birth education and supporting the development of the home-like birth centers and the midwifery model of care. Our children are all grown now. The choices and possibilities for a nurturing birth experience have become real through birth centers. Most important to me, the choices are in place for my children as they reach their childbearing years. When Holly and her husband David announced that they were expecting our first grandchild, I was ecstatic.