Letting Go

It was my 16th birthday, I was having cake and ice cream with my family at home.  My mom gave me a card that she made herself: handmade paper with rose petals and an angel sticker on the front, underneath my name, Faith, spelled out in cursive and brown glitter.

I opened it with reluctance, knowing intuitively that this was no ordinary card...  this was the deed to a new life.

I felt like I should save it and open it later, in the privacy of my own curiosity.  No chance.  She sat watching, along with my older brother, 2 little sisters, my dad, my step-dad and the family dog.  So I started to read...

To My Precious Daughter Faith,

          "The Gift

       It was a warm summer day  when the gods placed it in her hands.  She trembled with emotion as she saw  how fragile it appeared.  This was a very special gift the gods were entrusting to her.  A gift that would one day belong to the world.  Until then, they instructed her, she was to be her guardian  and  protector.  The woman  said  she  understood and  reverantly  took it home, determined to live up to the faith the gods had placed in her.

       At first she barely let it out of her sight, protecting it from anything she perceived to be harmful to it's well-being; watching with fear in her heart when it was exposed to the environment outside of the sheltered cacoon she had formed around it.  But the woman began to realize that she could not shelter it forever.  It needed to learn to survive the harsh elements in order to grow strong.  So with gentle care she gave it more space to grow, enough to allow it to grow wild and untamed.

      Sometimes she would lie in bed at night, feelings of inadequacy overwhelming her.  She wondered if she was capable of handling the awesome responsibility placed on her.  Then she would hear the quiet whispers of the gods reassuring her that they knew she was doing her best.  And she would fall asleep feeling comforted.

      The woman grew more at ease with her responsibility as the years passed.  The gift had enriched her life in so many ways by it's very presence that she could no longer remember what her life had been like before receiving it, nor imagine what life would be like without it.  She had all but forgotten her agreement with the gods.

      One day she became aware of how much the gift had changed.  It no longer had a look of vulnerability about it.  Now it seemed to glow with strenght and steadiness, almost as if it were developing a power within.  Month after month she watched as it became stronger and more powerful, and the woman remembered her promise.  She knew deep within her heart that her time with the gift was nearing an end.

      The inevitable day arrived when the gods came to take the gift and present it to the world.  The woman felt a deep sadness, for she would miss it's constant presence in her life.  With heartfelt gratitude, she thanked the gods for allowing her the privalege of watching over the precious gift gor so many years.  Straightening her shoulders, she stood proud, knowing that it was, indeed, a very special gift.  One that would add to the beauty and essence of the world around it.  And the mother let her child go.

                                                        Renee R. Vroman"

Then my mother wrote, I love you, Faith and I'll always be here for you, but I let you go, with love, Mom.

This was precicely the gift I needed right then.  I was 8 weeks pregnant.