Nearly three years after immersing myself into a lifetime of old journals, and almost two years after tapping out the last line of the last chapter of the first draft of my first book… eighteen months into my plunge into blogging and Facebooking and Tweeting and wrestling over my book proposal, and twelve months past my search[…]
And so the woman I wrote of last week, that desperately silent, utterly vulnerable soul and tiny son, even as she departed the premises, stowed herself away in my heart as I was caught up into the stream of women that flowed through my stay at MamaBaby. Only a few hours after we’d tended to and erased the traces of that[…]
I was surprised to be greeted at MamaBaby by a small bedroom filled with Americans. I’d been told I’d be the only foreign volunteer through my first week in Haiti, but there they were – Patricia and Darren Couch, and Emily Stevenson – and they proved a pure delight. Patricia is one of the gorgeous souls who[…]
And so I’m home from three weeks in Haiti, but was it three weeks, or was it a lifetime? Fifty-one pages of my journal are thronged with the sights and sounds, the smells and sensations, the spellbinding moments, the great surgings of emotion, and with the myriad striking souls that now throng my heart. How ever shall I transform[…]
Anne Miller first called me in the wintertime of 2011. I assumed initially she was Amish, as a vast expanse of my clients were named Miller. That year alone I’d serve eight Miller famlies, with a remarkable many sharing first names. This made the midnight calls interesting, you may be sure. “You’re calling about Maggie? Um…[…]
It’s time for another Midwife Highlight, and I thought it would suit to share the story belonging to Jill Roper – the woman who’s the reason I’m this moment serving at MamaBaby Haiti. Jill and I met on-line last year, and, though we’ve still only ever talked on the telephone and by email, we immediately[…]
Almost five years ago I was allowed to attend a very special birth. This is what I wrote on Facebook about it: “Home with Hannah from the birth of a glorious baby boy. His name means laughter, and I find his name profoundly significant. Only five years ago his mother was planning her funeral. I[…]
As I stand here at the hopping off point – I’ll be leaving tomorrow before sunrise – the thoughts that have crouched in the corners of my mind since I made the decision to go have begun to crowd out the rest of my thoughts. The need in Haiti is so great. The need is[…]
Women in American society seem more and more to be suffering a myriad distressing symptoms that markedly disrupt their ability to enjoy their lives. These symptoms range from exhaustion to difficulty controlling weight, from errant hormones to clouded comprehension and concentration, from moods askew to impaired immunity to aching, sub-functioning bodies. Too often, once a[…]
Oh, my heart overflows! So many of you responded to my post about my upcoming trip to Haiti with gifts and the promise of prayers and encouragement! I know I said it already, but it’s as though you’re coming along with me! I can only imagine what it will mean to the staff of MamaBaby when I[…]