rooted and grounded in love.

A few days ago, Kevin came to me, and he said, “Babe, do you know what it does to my heart when Emmarie goes through the house searching high and low for me, saying ‘da-da’.” Tears began to stream down his face, and I said, “yes dear, I know what it does to your heart- because it does the same thing to mine.” He said, “I have so much I want to say about being a dad, to not only Emmarie but Harlee and Sydnie. Do you think that you could write something from what you think it would be from my point of view?” Emmarie came running in the bedroom right after that conversation, and I never said yes or no that I could or would do that. But I’ve thought a lot about it over the past few days. Kevin never asks much of me. He is such a great helpmate; he does more than his share, and so I wanted to do this for him. Being a dad- from my perspective, for him… Sometimes we paint this picture of what our lives will look like. We fall in love, we dream of the future. We have families and j...

It was dark, the tv quiet; I found myself sitting in the chair a little after 8 o’clock, holding my daughter while she drank her bedtime bottle. I brushed her hair and cheek softly with my hand, as I stared down at her sweet little face.   I thought to myself, “what did I do to deserve her?”   For years I knew that I could never bear a child of my own. I knew that I would likely never be a mama. But there I sat, holding a beautiful little girl who calls me mama. Every night for the past four hundred and thirty one days- since Emmarie came home to be with us forever; she has fallen asleep before bed in my arms. As her mama, I know how she prefers to lay, what blankie she likes the most, what songs she likes sung to her, and what books she likes read. I know that when putting her to sleep it’s not long before her little arm begins to wander and ends up just under my left arm, slightly hugging my side. She falls asleep this way every single night. She is not...