I have a strong memory of spending a lot of time when I was a little girl snuggled up in bed next to my mother, her skin warm and her smell comforting. In that memory, my mother is always reading, and her arm is around me so that I am nestled next to her. I…
Tag: motherhood
For Liz, on Turning Forty
Today, my middle daughter Liz is the big 4–0. It’s hard to imagine how that’s even possible, since it seems like just a minute and a half ago that she was a toddler. But whether I want to believe it or not, it is true that back in 1986, little Jean Elizabeth Beaty arrived in…
The Mother Body: Stories Held in Skin, Softness, and Strength
I used to have a flat stomach. I remember having one at least. I also remember having breasts that were a normal size, not large like I have now, which seem to be the result, at least in part, of seven years of nursing three little girls. Yes, seven. Two, two and three for the…
Happy Birthday, Sarah! Here’s Your Birth Story.
Tomorrow is my oldest daughter Sarah’s birthday. As is my custom, I am sharing her birth story, which in her case was a bit more harrowing than her sisters’ births. As a physician herself now who has delivered a fair number of babies, I’m sure this story gives her a few shivers. But the good…
Happy Birthday, Rachael: Here’s Your Birth Story (Our Family Tradition)
I post my daughters’ birth stories pretty much every year on their birthdays, so if you’ve read this one, feel free to skip it. However, for me, it is a special ritual to commemorate the events that occurred on the day all three of my girls arrived on this earth. It makes me happy to…
A Reflection on My Coming Birthday
Tomorrow is my birthday. Ray and I will go to Sarah’s house to celebrate Christmas plus Nico’s, Liz’s, and my birthdays. I made a double batch of turkey meatloaf this afternoon and it is cooling in the kitchen. We’ll have that with stuffed shells, salad, and other goodies tomorrow. We’ll also exchange gifts (some of…
20 Minutes a Day 