All You Need is Love

I've retold Charlotte's birth story many times but I could never put it into written words. There's so much to the story that making sense of it outside of spoken word has proven to be difficult. There are multiple pillars to the story: the fear that neither one of us (mother and child) could make it, the grace needed to deal with a premature birth and a month long stay at the hospital four hours away from home, and the life lessons you learn along the way. It's enough material for a novella. 

My friend, and an amazing writer, approached me about telling our story for Charlotte Magazine's Love Issue. She has an uncanny way of taking my string of consciousness thoughts and making sense of them. There's really no one else I would trust to do it, she was there for us the whole time. 

A few weeks ago we had our photo taken for the article. There was a scheduling mix up, however, we all had enough flexibility in our day to make it happen. 

We were already dressed for another event and not at all what we had originally planned to wear. I was a wrinkled mess and got stung by a bee, on my forehead, right before the photographer took the photo. It was a comedy of errors.

But so is life: it's messy, it's unpredictable, and you just have to make it work. 

At the end of the day, I'm glad we did not look "perfect". We're not perfect. Charlotte will have the memory of us forever in print, just the way she would hopefully remember us: two parents who loved her very much who did not pretend to be someone they're not. And that, to me, is perfection. 

The November issue of Charlotte Magazine is one of their best. It's exciting to not only be part of it but to be alongside people we know and the amazing writers and photographers and editors and everyone else that make it happen month after month. 

You can read the seven love stories, including ours, here.