Mother Bridge of Love

Four years ago today - somewhere in the small city of Wannian, Jiangxi, China - a woman gave birth to a tiny baby girl. The little information I have lets me know that she only kept her daughter for one day… 24 short hours… before leaving her on the steps of the Wannian City Hospital. I will probably never know the circumstances concerning her decision.  (My heart tells me that she – like most mothers in her situation - waited in the shadows to make sure her baby was found, before walking away.) She lives in a world as different from mine as can possibly be. I don’t pretend to even begin to imagine the pain of giving away your child less than a day after bringing her into the world. It is a bittersweet thing that my joy and happiness come at the price of such pain. I know that today, on the other side of the world, a mother is grieving.

And so, tonight, I offer up a prayer that somehow, some way, God would give her a peace, that she would know in her heart that the little baby girl that took her first breath four years ago today is a strong, intelligent, happy girl with an impish grin, contagious laughter and a tender heart.  That she is compassionate, generous and stubborn… that she wears her heart on her sleeve and has a deeper understanding of empathy than I do. She is her four-year-old daughter. My daughter. Our daughter.

Mother Bridge of Love 

Once there were two women who never knew each other.
                                                                  

One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.

Two different lives shaped to make you one.
                                                                                        

One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.
         

The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name.
         
                                                               
One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.
                         

One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home that she could not provide.
                                                                        

The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.

And now you ask me, through your tears,
                                                                                                

the age-old question unanswered through the years.
                                                                                                     

Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?
 

                                                                                               

Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.

~Anonymous