I was the second child. My parents had already had my older brother for a year when they found out they were pregnant with me. They followed the footsteps they had set when they had my brother while my mother was pregnant. My mom went in to labor at 3 in the morning. So they dropped my brother off with a friendly neighbor and took my mom to the hospital. On the way there they thought it was a false alarm and began to turn back, but they were wrong. They described it to me as i was almost born in the car. To my mother, this had already become routine. She, again refused any medication or painkillers that the hospital would offer her. Several hours after entering the hospital, she was now holding her second son. Not 5 minutes had passed since she had given birth and her parents were already waiting outside to meet their new grandchild. She hadn't even had a chance to clean herself up yet. But they were just as excited as my mom was to meet me.
Person #2
I never met my real parents. There has never really been a discussion about them in my house because i accept the people who raised me as my parents. Not the people who gave me away. So i don't know the exact story of my birth. I know that before i was a year old, my parents came and flew to seattle and picked me up from the family that had given birth to me. I don't know the exact specifications of the trade, i don't know if my parents paid them, or if the other family gave me up because they knew they couldn't take care of me. All i know is i am home now.
Person #3
I am the oldest child in my family. My mom has told me time and time again about how she would bathe me in the sink with the baby book open next to her. Everything she did was out of her best judgement mixed with what the baby book had told her to do. She was young an inexperienced in the world of giving birth, so she was scared. She didn't want to do anything wrong because she didn't want to have that on her conscious. When she went into labor she made my father rush her to the hospital. She spent a total of 16 hours in labor. She refused drugs because she didn't believe in them. She said the faces my father made while she was giving birth was almost worth it. She said that as soon as the doctor walked out of the room, she saw her parents peering in the room looking to see their first grandchild. My mom said that the first time she held me, she knew i was hers. She felt the bond between us. Something that can never be broken she said.
What inspires pregnancy in women? Is it a motherly instinct or is it natural? Are they afraid of what will happen after words or are they willing to accept that for what they will be creating?
Mom (mentor)
ReplyDeleteSam,
It's so interesting to see pieces of the stories i have told about having my kids be interpreted by one of them. These experiences are so precious to me and i am proud that you understand that and have crafted meaningful and sensitive stories around them. Having children is one of the most profound experiences a woman can have, and given the enormity of the process of birth and beginning of life, i would have to say my favorite line is "All i know is I am home now". at the end of the day, no matter what your experience, that is where you go to really being your journey of life.
Stephanie
Eli (protege)
ReplyDeleteSam,
I love how in each story you give a sense of emotion. Its almost as if you could potentially live three different lives and this is where they all started from. What is also interesting is how you incorporated the feelings and tone of those around you. For example in the 3rd story you quote: "She refused drugs because she didn't believe in them" (Person #3). You are able to subtlety include how the people around you felt and therefore what kind of family you came from.
This makes me wonder...How early is one's life shaped? At what point do you start to become who you are? Could being abandoned as child and brought into a new home make you a completely different person? Seemingly yes, but then the eternal question of nature versus nurture returns...How influenced am I by my first seconds, days, weeks in this world?
Eli
Sam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my latest post. I thought that your post was really interesting because it showed how our parents affect who we are. For example your second story about the person who was adopted was very different from your first and third story because their relationships with their birth parents are different. Person #2 seemed a little confused even though they love their adoptive parents. On the other hand, people #1 and #3 seem to be content with their parents.
Dean
This post was really cool. I love the first person narrative. I also like that the point of views that were represented were all from the childrens perspectives, the second hand storytelling was interesting. I found the second story to be the most interesting, and I think it inspired one of your bolder questions: "Are they afraid of what will happen after words or are they willing to accept that for what they will be creating?" When you explain the person talked about if the family that gave thier child away knew they could provide for him or her. Like Andy would say, it's developing one of those "bubbles".
ReplyDeleteOverall I really enjoyed reading your post, partly because it didn't go on and on, partly because it had a great style to it, and partly because of the interesting information it provided. Keep it up.
-Kevin
I liked that one of your interviews had the perspective of an adopted child versus an adoptive parent. It was interesting to see that the person did not care to know their birth story but rather how their known parents came about raising him/her. I also liked the questions you pondered at the end,"What inspires pregnancy in women? Is it a motherly instinct or is it natural? Are they afraid of what will happen after words or are they willing to accept that for what they will be creating?" It'd be interesting to collect answers from several mothers.
ReplyDelete