The sweetest baby boy was born into the hot heat of a summer in the South. I had never witnessed a birth before and was completely unprepared for what was to come.
I entered the room of the hospital and saw a woman in more pain than I had ever seen a person in my life, as her epidural did not kick in until an hour after my arrival. I watched her husband love and pray over her.
I thought, "This has to be the greatest depth of love, I have ever witnessed."
The epidural began to take effect, and eased into delivery.
I realized that I was thrown into a room of the most peaceful fright as she started pushing. She looked up at her husband, both with tears in their eyes, and embraced each other's minds with mutual disbelief in what they were able to create together.
The baby boy made his entrance and the parents wrapped into each other as they watched their first son being cleaned and taken care of by the nurses. Their eyes only left their son to stare at one another.
He made his way into his mother's arms and the entire room stood still. An indescribable energy engulfed the air where absolutely nothing mattered. The past and the future were nonexistent as the three together were cradled in intimate tenderness.
I thought, "This has to be the greatest depth of love, I have ever witnessed."
Sometime after I left the delivery room, the doctor came to the family to let the parents know that they were doing various tests on their son.
A week later, their son was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.
As the family decided to not test for this in utero, the collection that I had in my hands held a greater weight than I had ever imagined they would. These pieces would forever represent the most silent moment in time with their son. One without future concerns or worries on how to navigate through a new and unknown world.
To this day, I try to stuff down the energy that I felt during his birth. It was so intense, so real, and the closest moment to heaven that I feel I will ever reach.
It was truly the arc of my existence; making me realize, there is so much more to this world than current struggles and menial worries.
So, I continuously chase to find another moment like this; to touch the face of love through the eyes and hearts of others.
Until I find the next, I can say with certainty,
"This was the greatest depth of love, I have ever witnessed."
