We recently held a contest over at our sister site, Narratively Academy, in which we asked you to tell us about an act of love. As always, we were over the moon with all the responses we received — so many, so great! Read below for the winning story — and stay tuned for one more that we really loved next week!
I hated my womb. It miscarried my baby, got infected, then had to be removed. We decided to adopt.
In August, while getting my classroom ready for school, I went to lunch at a local restaurant. The waiter was the mother of two little girls I had taught in previous years.
She was very pregnant.
“Hey! My kids told me you were adopting a baby this summer. Where is it?” she asked as she gave me a hug.
“The biological mother kept him,” I said.
“Thank goodness. I want you to take my baby!” She explained that she was getting a divorce and the baby wasn’t her husband’s. “I can’t take care of another child. I want to know this baby is safe and will be loved. Please say yes.”
I was shocked. “Yes…but I need to talk to my husband.”
“Don’t wait too long. I’m due next week.”
I thought about what the implications were of adopting a child from a family I knew. In 1979, open adoptions were unheard of in my town. I focused on the positive: the idea that my child would grow up knowing whatever she needed to know about her biological family; the possibility of her knowing them, being loved by them, too.
Sarah was born three days later. As I stood, holding her to my chest, it felt like a warm wind blew into the hospital room wrapping us up together.
“That was incredible,” Sarah’s bio-mom, Pat, said. “You were surrounded by light! You are meant to be together.”
I realized we both were given a gift. Pat had a mystical experience that confirmed her
decision. I was given the opportunity to be a part of Sarah’s life as she grew into the incredible woman she is today.
PS: Make sure you don’t miss any of our flash essay contests and calls for pitches by subscribing to Narratively Academy, our community for writers and authors.
