A little letter of wishes to my son, Michael Zion Morris, born on his due date, March 31st at 5:06 in the morning weighing in at 7lbs 1oz. Healthy, alert, and oh so cuddly, this boy unlocked an amount of love in my heart that I never knew existed.
Thanks to you, Z, the last 9 months have held some of the sweetest moments of my 25 years of existence thus far. Together, we have experienced many highs and many lows, and really everything else in between - but isn’t that really just a reflection of life itself? As I look back on our time together as one, here are some of the things I experienced firsthand that I wish you, too could have witnessed.
I wish you could have seen the African sunrises that transpired during those early mornings around the fire in Naliyo, when I unknowingly traveled 7,550 miles across oceans with you in my belly.
I wish you could have watched the surprised look spread across your dad’s face when I woke him up early in the morning on August 1st to share our news with him.
I wish you could have seen the number of strangers and passerby’s on the subway who gave up their seats for me, for you.
I wish you could have played all the silly games we played at our baby showers, popping pink & blue balloons and taste-testing baby foods and guessing the smells of “dirty” diapers with all of our closest family and friends.
I wish you could have heard my students’ daily observations of my big, growing belly... all the little hands that rubbed while curiously asking “Is the baby kicking?” and “Is the baby eating?”
I wish you could have seen my reaction upon my sister telling me she was expecting a baby as well, and a mere two months after me! (I fell on the floor out of pure shock and happiness.)
I wish you could have heard the community of prayers prayed for you and felt the hands that laid on my stomach at the women’s retreat I led in a lake house in upstate New York that chilly November weekend.
I wish you could have witnessed my sister and I laying side by side with our pregnant bellies hooked up to a 3D sonogram machine, simultaneously staring into the faces of our future nieces or nephews.
But... you’re here now. And truly, there is nothing else I could wish for in life than you. You are every ounce of magic I used to believe in as a young child, embodied in human form, with chunky cheeks and the strongest hands that hold mine and a smile that could take just about anyone’s breath away.
They say that the moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. Well, Zion, it is the absolute biggest pleasure of my little life to be yours.
Forever my baby you’ll be.
Love, Me <3
