tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982841077606800565.post5363061683968947285..comments2017-11-16T11:19:17.441-08:00Comments on Harvesting Joy: Odd Man OutHarvesting Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983322443311075523noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982841077606800565.post-22585732405081777042014-05-21T12:42:27.469-07:002014-05-21T12:42:27.469-07:00I happened across your blog via your Facebook page...I happened across your blog via your Facebook page. I am an avid blog reader and blog keeper myself, so I was delighted to see that you, too, enjoy writing. I won't lie, there've been many, many tears shed as I scan through the years of your story. Sure, I might be PMSing (or, fingers crossed, pregnant), but the feelings are there. Fortunately I have never had to endure the pain of losing a child, but through your words I get a small glimpse of how my mom may have felt. She had my brother, Brian, when she was 32. Then she had another baby boy, Derek, when she was around 35. I don't really know the details well, but Derek was a perfectly healthy baby for his first few months, then was diagnosed with a congenital heart problem, had subsequent surgery, and died when he was about 6 months old. I was born a few years later. Growing up, I was aware that I had a brother who died before I was born. Our family was relatively open, and my parents spoke of Derek from time to time. But being a self-centered child, I never really thought about the implications of having a mom who had a child die before I was born. How much that must have shaped her parenting of me. My mom died of breast cancer when I was 19, between my freshman and sophomore years of college. Only when I got pregnant with Francine, and then when she was born, was I so desperate for more information about how my mom fared with losing her baby. I ask my dad about it occasionally, but a dad's recollection is just not the same as a mother's memory. And he and I don't share that experience of being mothers, obviously. I feel like I get a little glimpse, albeit it a very tragic one, when I read your story. Thank you for sharing, not just because it's an honest account of life lived, but also because it is something more concrete than my own imagination and provides insight into my own mom.Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08634142627588677338noreply@blogger.com