Monday, March 22, 2010

Being a mother of 4

Sometimes I come across something while I am reading that is so well worded and perfect for my life that I have to put it somewhere. This excerpt is from "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver:

"A mother's body remembers her babies--the folds of soft flesh, the softly furred scalp against her nose. Each child has its own entreaties to body and soul.... A first child is your own best foot forward, and how you do cheer those little feet as they strike out. You examine every turn of flesh for precocity, and crow it to the world...But the last one: the baby who trails her scent like a flag of surrender through your life when there will be no more coming after--oh, that's love by a different name. She is the babe you hold in your arms for an hour after she's gone to sleep. If you put her down in the crib, she might wake up changed and fly away. So instead you rock by the window, drinking the light from her skin, breathing her exhaled dreams. Your heart bays to the double crescent moons of closed lashes on her cheeks. She's the one you can't put down."

I've read this over and over and it still chokes me up. Love it, love it, love it!

2 comments:

  1. I love that book. It's worth reading more than once.

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  2. Doesn't she say things beautifully? Aahhh. Thanks for the words. And the sentiment.

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