adoption – Choosing This Moment

Five

Posted: March 16, 2018 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn No Comments

Five. It feels momentous. Big. A milestone year. So much older than four. A big girl, now, doing big girl things. (It’s strange to think of you this way, as five. Stranger, still, to write to you. Presumptuous, perhaps. But it helps, somehow, to remember you today.) I’ve thought of you more often than I … Continue reading "Five"

Facing Grief During the Holidays

Posted: November 22, 2017 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn No Comments

It’s that time of year. The time of tinsel and trees, of gifts and carols and cookies. The time of holidays, of jolly old elves and traveling wise men and baby Jesus in the manger. It’s the time when we gather with those we love. It’s the time when everyone celebrates, when everyone is filled … Continue reading "Facing Grief During the Holidays"

On Your Fourth Birthday, A Sonnet

Posted: March 16, 2017 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn No Comments

I’m not a poet, so please forgive my poor attempt at verse. Old photographs lie withered in the sun. They’re faded now where light and paper met. So, too, the grief I felt for what was done Diminished now, leaves in its place regret. The photographs I took back then are of A chubby, healthy, … Continue reading "On Your Fourth Birthday, A Sonnet"

When Time Doesn’t Heal All Wounds

Posted: May 10, 2016 Under: This Thing Called Life

By Jenn 8 Comments

I recently saw a call for submissions on the theme “How I Felt on My First Mothers’ Day,” a prompt that touched a raw place, that brought some unexpected emotions to the surface. More recent Mothers’ Days have been joyful, celebratory times, complete with cards and dinners and gifts, but that first one? That first one … Continue reading "When Time Doesn’t Heal All Wounds"

Night Driving: Roots

Posted: March 16, 2016 Under: Loving God

By Jenn 6 Comments

I’m sharing my own story of faith in the dark and joining Addie Zierman as she celebrates the launch of her new book Night Driving. After a calm and sunny February, one in which the water experts in this drought-stricken state were looking ahead to summer and bemoaning the lack of rain, the first two weeks of March … Continue reading "Night Driving: Roots"

It Felt Like Grief

Posted: November 27, 2015 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn 4 Comments

I have a story up at Good Housekeeping today about the early days of my pregnancy with Katie. Here are the opening lines: It felt like grief… Those first few months of pregnancy weighed on me, heavy and oppressive, and I did not recognize them for what they were. It felt like grief… The classic … Continue reading "It Felt Like Grief"

The Stories We Tell

Posted: August 20, 2015 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn 3 Comments

I tell a story about a failed adoption, a story that is true, at least so far as I know. I lived it, endured it, fought hard to change it. My story involves a teenage boy and a teenage girl, kids really, confused and broken and young, who conceived a child. It involves deceit and … Continue reading "The Stories We Tell"

My Heart Knows a Difference

Posted: April 27, 2015 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn 1 Comment

How does one measure love? It isn’t as though you can put it on a scale, ladle it into a measuring cup, stack it against a ruler. I do not know how to quantify love, how to compare one love to another, but if one possible measure is what you’d be willing to endure on … Continue reading "My Heart Knows a Difference"

March 16th

Posted: March 16, 2015 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn 2 Comments

Today is March 16th, 2015. Somewhere far away from here, there will be a party. Cake, most likely, and balloons, and brightly colored decorations. Toys and laughter and the chattering of a dear girl who has now officially left being a baby behind, who is now a toddler, who has now entered the so-called “terrible twos”. … Continue reading "March 16th"

Worth the Risk

Posted: January 14, 2015 Under: Family and Parenting

By Jenn 1 Comment

“We hope to give Katie siblings some day, brothers or sisters as companions and playmates and friends. And despite the pain we suffered, despite our ability to conceive without medical intervention, we hope that one or more of those siblings might come through adoption.” I’ve got another post up at Brain, Mother today – join … Continue reading "Worth the Risk"

Choosing This Moment

Finding the beauty in the everyday

Tag: adoption

Five

Facing Grief During the Holidays

On Your Fourth Birthday, A Sonnet

When Time Doesn’t Heal All Wounds

Night Driving: Roots

It Felt Like Grief

The Stories We Tell

My Heart Knows a Difference

March 16th

Worth the Risk