I was looking through some old blog posts for something else when I came across this. It was posted in early November, just a few weeks after Abby was born. It was fitting then, but I love it even more now! This was originally written for preemie moms. Although I am one of those too, I found it fitting to make it into a CCMS story.
~*~How CCMS Moms Are Chosen~*~
(Erma Bombeck)
Did you ever wonder how the mothers of CCMS babies are chosen? Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint, Matthew.
Forrest, Marjorie, daughter. Patron Saint, Celia."
Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a baby with CCMS." The angel looks shocked. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a CCMS baby a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel."
"But does she have the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has a world of its own. She has to make her baby live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."
"Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect, in the world's eyes. She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied.
She will never take for granted a spoken word.
She will never consider a step ordinary.
When her child says "Momma" for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it.
I will permit her to see clearly the things I see--ignorance, cruelty, prejudice--and allow her to rise above them.
She will never be alone.
I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."
"And what about her Patron Saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air.
God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."
~*~How CCMS Moms Are Chosen~*~
(Erma Bombeck)
Did you ever wonder how the mothers of CCMS babies are chosen? Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint, Matthew.
Forrest, Marjorie, daughter. Patron Saint, Celia."
Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a baby with CCMS." The angel looks shocked. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a CCMS baby a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel."
"But does she have the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has a world of its own. She has to make her baby live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."
"Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect, in the world's eyes. She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied.
She will never take for granted a spoken word.
She will never consider a step ordinary.
When her child says "Momma" for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it.
I will permit her to see clearly the things I see--ignorance, cruelty, prejudice--and allow her to rise above them.
She will never be alone.
I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."
"And what about her Patron Saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air.
God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."
Comments
Very good. Very, very, very good. I like this. At lot!! ;)
--Raelyn