For my birthday, instead of asking for gifts I asked for people to donate to the March of Dimes. It was so amazing that I had people give passionately to my cause, old friends, new friends, even a part-time co-worker that I see twice a week! I complete the donation with a bunch of saved dimes that I'll take to the bank for them to transfer into a check. Woo hoo! Update to come...
Even though I started the fundraiser only a short while before the day I was born, I was joyful at the chance to help people and remembered how my mother told me the story of my birth, a blessing that I have learned many women and girls missed.
From Fort Green, my dad drove my mom to Brooklyn Hospital. She had taken Lamaze and was very good at breathing. In the room where my mom labored, there was a memorable Latina woman in the same stage of labor, screaming "Ay! Ay! Ay!" with each contraction. My mom stayed focused and pushed me out from night to day, with no IV, no epidural, nada.
Maybe it was her focus and belief in the power of a woman's body, support from Lamaze teachers and love from above that allowed her to have the same process with my sister and brother, 4 and 8 years later. Maybe hearing the Latina lady's excruciating pain made me easily learn Spanish and strongly want to help more women have their babies come out like I did.
Only God knows. But what I need to know He will teach me. Who I need to help, he will bring to me. As long as, birthdays happen, I will try to make joy "fun"damental.
