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Everyone has a story

July 21st, 2004 · 2 Comments

The other day I wrote a post describing family planning, fertility and the choices women must make. In the comments, Janelle shared some of her own story of motherhood. I was grateful for what she wrote, and as I thought more about it and considered other angles to the issues, going through the day, I realized that every mother has her own story. Every family is different. Every mother has her reasons why she became pregnant, why she chose to raise a child (or didn’t choose to raise a child), how she did it, why she persevered in the process of parenting. Every mother has had struggles and every mom could tell stories…

I began to imagine listening to these women tell their tales, describing their hardships and heroics, how they survived their situations, what they did to make it through the days and years. I think it would be a great documentary movie, interviews with mothers from across the spectrum. Or perhaps even a blog where women could post stories.

I know I could appreciate the encouragement. I’ve had my moments when I wanted another mother to walk beside me and tell me I’d make it. Like last year when my third child was six months old. At that time I went to a 50th birthday party for a friend of mine. Around the living room, her husband had posted pictures of her at various stages of her life as souvenirs for guests to take home. Blown-up larger-than-life black-and-whites of the birthday girl, posters for her to autograph. I chose one of my friend with a baby. I’m not sure which baby is in the picture. Her three kids are teenagers now. But seeing that picture of her with a baby gave me hope. I saw in that photo that this friend of mine had once been where I was – in the midst of the sleeplessness and chaos of young children – and she survived. I wanted to know more of her story. How and why did she do it. I’m still learning and listening to her…

A record of mothers and their struggles would encourage others, I hope. Every mother has a story. Every woman has a story. Every man has one too. I want to hear them. Somehow.

One way to hear these stories is through reading blogs. Orange Zen is where Janelle writes from her life. It’s a fun and refreshing place, as the name indicates. Thanks, Janelle, for sharing, and thanks to everyone who takes the time to put bits of life onto a page for others to see.

Tags: motherhood

2 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Janelle // Jul 21, 2004 at 10:26 am

    Aww, I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy now! =)

    You should write a book. What better way to get the kind of record you are searching for?

  • 2 OrangeZen // Jul 21, 2004 at 11:18 am

    Warn Fuzzy

    Julie made a post today about how everyone has a story. She had been talking about family planning and wanting to know why some women chose to parent children and how they made it through everything etc