Thursday, August 7, 2008

Magic Kisses

For Rowan, who just crossed over to the firmament, and was Marian's knight in shining armor and a true romantic.

. . . . . . . .

There was a moment when I didn’t think I was going to make it. And yet my mom was the one who was dying. Literally. Of cancer. Every few hours she had to leave her post at my side, where she was the self-designated brow-mopper, ice giver, and comfort-whisperer, to step into the hallway and give herself another morphine shot. I was so exhausted I felt like one more push did not exist. But somehow, from somewhere, came another -- and another. It had been 23 hours of hard labor. The doctor -- a good coach -- kept saying, “Yes, Yes, YES! I can see his head!” and then, “You can have this baby with the next contraction.” One more bearing down with all the strength I could muster, and out came the shoulders -- and then the whole baby, turning, slipping, sliding easily into Dr. Growdon’s capable hands.

He cleaned up the baby and clamped the umbilical cord, and handed Jeff the scissors to make the official cut. Then he laid him in his mother’s arms. My arms. “First kiss” he said. [Oh, is THAT what I’m supposed to do now? Good thing he told me, because I was already halfway to another planet.] But then it became real to me. I looked at him, how perfect he was (too perfect to be MINE), and held him swaddled next to me. I marveled at his eyes. But when my lips touched his forehead something magic happened. I felt this exhilarating connection that brought me back to life, and I knew he was mine. Forever.

This baby -- hers, mine, ours, all of ours -- was the firstborn. My mom felt a unique bond with him because throughout the pregnancy they shared something few people ever experience -- a closeness to the veil. She was approaching it in departure; he was on the other side approaching his arrival. Their bond seemed somehow intimate, holy. She wrote in her journal that day “What an incredible experience to get this little boy from safe inside his mother’s womb to being a part of the human beings struggling with the pains and joys of this world.” I like to think she saw herself mirroring that sometime soon...leaving the pains and the joys of this world to find herself safe and at peace in the firmament.

A few months later I got the call. She was in the hospital, two states away, and her days were numbered. Baby Josh and I boarded the next flight out, and rode straight from the airport to the hospital. Mom was still alive, but she couldn’t eat or talk, and practically couldn’t see. Most of the time she just lay there, unresponsive. I carried Joshua over to her bedside and told her who was there to see her. Then I held him up to give her a kiss. I think it took all the energy she had just to pull her lips into a pucker, but then his lips touched hers, and she smiled! That first kiss from her first grandson had suddenly brought her visible joy!

That first kiss was also the last. She passed away the next day. (Another amazing story, which I’ll save for another post.) But we continued to tell little Joshy the story about how his kisses were magic, and how he brought his grandmother so much happiness before she died.

Three years later we had a baby girl, Jordan. She came from heaven like a ray of hope and graced our home with her presence. (Still does.) One day she seemed to be crying inconsolably and I had my hands full in the kitchen. Josh said, “I can help her Mommy. My kisses are magic!” And earnestly, he went over and kissed his baby sister. Magically, she stopped crying and smiled up at him. His kisses really were magic! It didn’t always work, but more often than not he had this spell on her. “Joshy,” we’d say, “Baby Jordan’s getting fussy. Can you give her some magic kisses?” And off he’d go, with healing and happiness trailing in his wake.

Josh is now 16. He’s just on the threshold of adulthood, entering the dangerous world of dating and driving and derring-do. I know that someday soon some lucky girl will be the recipient of his official "first kiss". (Maybe it’s already happened.) This young man already has a kissing history that’s unparalleled. Yet so innocent. Whoever the lucky girl is, I hope that first kiss is a symbol of genuine affection. And I hope she can sense the absolute magic in it. Because it’s for real.

. . . . . . . .

This post is also an entry in Scribbit's Write-Away contest for August: "First Kiss". Welcome, Scribbit readers.

12 comments:

Brillig said...

Magic kisses indeed! Exceptionally beautiful post, lady. I've come to expect nothing less. But this is truly perfection. I can picture each one of those amazing women in his life being blessed by those purest of pure kisses.

Kazzy said...

Ok, I came online to check on the bank account and I end up crying for a different reason. It is apparent how much your mom is still a part of your everyday life. Teens sometimes forget their magic as they get older and think everything needs to be loud and obvious. These stories about their earliest soft experiences are good for them to rehear. I hope you have reminded Josh of this one. Thanks.

Scribbit said...

what a bitter sweet story--but beautiful in it's on wonderful way.

Anonymous said...

You are a fantastic writer; this really touched me. I have a son and daughter the same age and could almost have written the same in terms of their relationship (she adores him, he tolerates her). Thank you for sharing your gift.

Heather of the EO said...

How many times are you going to leave me speechless? I can't be speechless in the comments!
If that doesn't win the Scribbit contest...I'll protest. :)

Little GrumpyAngel said...

You should win! This is so touchingly beautiful. Have you written a book? If not you should. You have a gift, not just of weaving words into beautiful portraits, but of touching the heart. I've added you to my blog roll.

Melanie Jacobson said...

So beautiful. My mom, in her last days, often saw and spoke to a little boy running around her room at home. There wasn't one there, but she insisted he was. She died. A few months later, our son Grant was born a year to the day that my dad died. My mom promised to send each of our children down to us with a kiss on their foreheads. I like to think both of my parents had a little something do with Baby G's arrival.

Thanks for sharing.

charrette said...

Beautiful comment! Thanks for sharing that. I didn't realize you'd lost your mom too. When our daughter was born (here) I had no doubt it was my mom who brought her across the veil. And as soon as she could talk she used to say things like "I miss your mom." It was clear she KNEW her, even though she never met her here.

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

You really need to start posting a kleenex warning, hun, I'm bawling here. Thanks for that reminder. I needed that bit of eternal perspective today.

Gabrielle said...

That was truly beautiful! Just like life, your story was mixed with emotions from every spectrum. Joy blending with sadness....Magical!

Mozi Esme said...

Beautiful, magical story. I love how kisses change and can be defined by the stages of life.

Allison Elkington said...

Sister Parkin, I don't know if this is weird to tell you, but you're absolutely right about Josh. I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks this about him. :)

Ps, you were right in saying

"Whoever the lucky girl is, I hope that first kiss is a symbol of genuine affection. And I hope she can sense the absolute magic in it. Because it’s for real."

and

"I know that someday soon some lucky girl will be the recipient of his official "first kiss"."

You posted this the day before Josh kissed me for the first time. And I was lucky. You were right about everything you wrote!

Love, Allison.