NOW, National Organization of Women
The tao of motherhood
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The Tao is called the Great Mother:
empty yet inexhaustible,
it gives birth to infinite worlds.
It is always present within you.
You can use it any way you want.
Yesterday a friend called to check how I was doing. During the course of the conversation she said something to the effect that people's reactions to the death of a child are greater because we project something or other on them. I was stunned at the unintentional callousness of the comment.
First, this was my niece we're talking about; the closest thing to a sister my kids had. Second, I love my sister-in-law. She's an astounding human being. As someone who has been a witness to her greatness through the years; it breaks my heart to know she will carry this sorrow for the rest of her life. It really truly is not fair.
Why doesn't a tree fall on fucking Dick Cheney or George Bush? Why Lydia? Why my SILs baby?
I politely ended the conversation one way or other with my friend. I know her for too many years to know she did not mean any harm with the comment. Yet it confirmed what I have felt for some years now : the love that comes with parenting is many times greater in order of magnitude than romantic love because it is not just a blood or family relationship between two people. It's the kind of love that builds worlds and universes.
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