A Gift of Love

My sister gave me a gift that I will never understand nor will I ever be able to repay the goodness she showed me through it. While my sister was pregnant with her last child, a boy, I left the island to go meet with my husband to be in Washington, my second husband that is.

Because of the poor care offered in the island, she decided to travel to Miami until she gave birth. When the baby was almost due, I received a call from her; she wanted me to be there with her. I knew that she was a little scared but now that I think about it, I wonder if she had planned things to work out the way they did.

I didn’t hesitate. I got on a plane the next day and was very happy to see my girl who was all grown up getting ready to bring forth another child. When I hugged her she said, “I have been in pain for two days but I refuse to have this baby without you. I have been waiting for you to go to the hospital.

Early the next morning, it was time and she was more than ready. I didn’t know that this day would be one of the most beautiful and fullest days of my life. After the doctor examined her, she informed him that she wanted me in the delivery room with her.

My jaw fell open. Not even remotely, had I imagine that I would witness the birth of a child. She knew my heart’s desire, she knew how much I loved children and how much I wanted children of my own. I guess she felt that this was as close as a woman could come to giving birth if she couldn’t experience it for herself.

I didn’t know what to say and I certainly didn’t know how to react to this. I guess I was in shock because I felt numb. There is no other gift besides the grace of God and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for my sins, that has meant more to me than being present in the same room where the birth of my sister’s son took place.

I was holding her hand while she was pushing and when the doctor said she was crowning, she let go of my hand and asked me to go see what birthing was all about. There was blood everywhere, it was a mess but at the same time it was the most precious thing to see the head of the baby push through such a small pathway.

The doctor asked her to stop pushing and I went back to hold her hand but she told me the baby was coming so I went back to see the completion of this painful but wonderful process.

The doctor was not ready yet, but the baby was and out came the baby. I grabbed it to keep him from falling to the floor. At that moment, I was reborn into a newness of what life is all about and into a deeper understanding of the love between mother and child. It felt so good, it hurt. My sister then said, there is your son.

It will never be the same as when a woman experiences the conception and the formation of life within the walls of her insides or like the feeling a woman has when the fetus moves in her womb. Yet, this was something that no amount of happiness, or money, or health, or men, or even love could ever be compared to.

That moment was a sacred moment in which I felt whole and complete in every aspect of the word. I looked at my sister and although she was still in pain, she glowed with happiness, peace and a love for me that transcended far beyond any sorrow or hurt I had ever experienced. Nothing could have tainted that moment and it wasn’t because of the actions of my sister but because of the sincerity and the depth of love by which she did what she did.