Living without a heart

They say that childbirth is hard.

Yeah… right.

Listen, I’ve ‘done childbirth’ 4 times – and it ain’t nothing compared to this. Let’s face it, when that baby comes out you get to take her (or him) home. You get to know each other. You get to love on her – and you get to keep her in your heart AND arms.

But then, whether 18, 21 or 27 years later, you’re suddenly told that ‘in your heart’ is enough.

You have to let that baby go. Sometimes that ‘letting go’ is figuratively AND literally. Sometimes that baby moves half a continent away to follow his dreams. And sometimes she marries and moves clear across the continent.

Just like that.

Now for most dad’s, this is sad, but not the end of the world. Most have been eagerly anticipating the day when they get their homes AND their wives back. But moms? Not quite.

You see, when that baby walks away – we don’t get our hearts back. They walk away with them.

It takes time to learn to live without a heart nearby.

And it ain’t easy for a mother – for we are almost all heart. We don’t handle things that break them very well; very well at all.

Don't believe me? Well, let me tell you of someone I know. She suffered some injuries and, before we knew it, she was a full-blown prescription drug addict. In fact, she was such an addict that she broke the law in trying to get drugs. One day, she was arrested and taken away to jail.

Her mother – literally, and not just figuratively – went into a coma.

A C-O-M-A.

It was several weeks before she came out of the coma, several months before she was remotely herself again. She has never really totally recovered.

I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of anyone going into a coma due to the agony of childbirth.

Because - after childbirth – you still get to keep your heart.