From the time we are brought into this world until the day we leave it, we are tied or connected to people, and then we have to loosen or undo that tie as we journey. For nine months a mother carries a child, then at birth the first tie is cut when the umbilical cord is severed. One can only imagine how traumatic that must feel for a baby to leave the coziness of the womb, turned upside down, slapped, suctioned, washed, handled, clothed, and fed within a few hours! That, of course, is the first beginning of life. Who would ever imagine all the other beginnings and endings this journey could hold.

A parent