The Day the Music Started
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I went into childbirth labor on Halloween night an hour before midnight. Our front door remained open to any late trick or treaters, but the evening's pace was slowing. Exhausted from the enthusiastic witches and goblins ringing our doorbell, I decided to lie on the soft carpet to rest a bit.
Suddenly, just as I was about to doze off, my whole body jerked in a massive muscle spasm. You've probably experienced this; it feels like getting zapped with electricity. Well, that was my personal big bang of labor.
How fitting that moment was marked with a jolt just hours before meeting my daughter. My life was about to get real. My internal clock reset, and I was thrown into a world of love like I’d never known.
This year, daylight savings time, lands on my daughter’s birthday. It feels odd, this "fall back" date. Her day of birth signifies bringing a life forward into the light. But it is happening on the same day we attempt to shift the darkness.
Can you hear Mother Nature chuckle as we run around the house finding every non-digital clock not synched up with the satellites? As if we can deposit in the Time Bank for withdrawal at a more opportune time. Are we trying to control time or are we just afraid of the dark?
Why do we push back the night when it has such beauty? We shut it out or light it up. What might our lives feel like if we stepped outside the campfire ring a little more often?
And let's not forget, it's just a matter of time.
Did you ever notice how many expressions use the word "time"? There is saving time, be on time, keep time, make time, spend time, time will tell, and time marches on. And let's not forget, it's just a matter of time. But I digress.
My little star was born.
That Halloween night, I was awake all night. It was the best night of my life. My little star was born at 11:17 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, 1980. That was the day the music started. I was a mother. Lena’s mom. Her birth was a gift that jolted me right from the onset.
I was about to have the time of my life.
Do you see time as a burden or a tool? What joys does remembering your child's day of birth bring?
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