Strong Mothers, Strong Children

Strong mothers.

We all know them.

We look to them during difficult times.

We watch how they respond to challenges.

We listen to their wisdom.

We learn from their experience.

We trust their guidance.

18 years ago today our nation’s mother, Lady Liberty, was put to the ultimate test before our very eyes.

Her twins were attacked.

These emblems of greatness were stolen from her after years of guarding them from her watchful safe harbor.

The unthinkable became reality.

We were helpless children.

We looked to her. We watched. We listened. We learned. We trusted.

We became.

We became better as a nation, as neighbors, and as New Yorkers.

Today I sent my own New Yorker twins to school with their neighbors in our nation’s colors.

I told them that today we remember an attack on our country by honoring the heroes: the brave, valiant men and women who gave all for some.

Now I find myself wondering at how these children will embody our nation’s spirit as they grow. How they will lead a new legacy in our country and our world.

We will look to them.

We will watch them.

We will listen to their wisdom.

We will learn from their experience.

We will trust their guidance.

And I have so much hope for what they will become.

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Tiny but Mighty

Three pounds eight ounces Soft, warm weight upon my chest "Tiny but Mighty" These reassuring words came from Amy, the nurse who taught me how to express milk and use a breastpump (more on that pleasure in another post), in the few hours after delivery. As she matter-of-factly went about her duties in the first hours after my twin delivery, she simply said not to worry about the boys, they would be fine: "I say they are Tiny but Mighty." Those words became my mantra over the coming weeks. I knew she was right the moment I held Cameron for the first time. As I was wheeled into the first NICU nursery I had ever been in, I glanced rapidly around the room at the various isolettes and wondered which one held my precious baby boy. I was brought around the corner to the right and Cameron's nurse, Deanna, greeted me. I peered in at this little angel and had no idea what to do: Was I allowed to hold him? To touch him? To kiss him? More importantly... Was he ...

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Prematurity and Pandemics

Prematurity and Pandemics The absolute hardest thing I have done in my life is delivering my twins 8 weeks early and leaving them in the hospital every single night for the first month of their lives. It was a gut-wrenching blow each and every time. What would the next day bring? When would they get out of those 4 walls and breathe fresh air? How could I ever explain to them that it wasn't supposed to be like this, and I'd never done this before either? All we could do was put hope and trust in the doctors and nurses, and even they couldn't make any promises. In the fog of this new-mom-with-no-babies-at-home trauma, it was very hard to see past the next hour, and impossible to know what impact this experience would have on the rest of my life. This first experience with prematurity came out of nowhere. Despite my knowing that preterm delivery was the number one risk of my twin pregnancy, the moment itself came as a surprise. I was having a healthy, enjoyable pregnancy up u...

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