Butterfly

339 Alexa, Taken 2008, Nikon D-80, Automatic, Epiphanized by Manny Fimbres, 10-16-09

I remember the day she was born, the biggest eyes you have ever seen and lips that were puffed up so big they took over her face and omg, the dewiest softest skin with the most amazing color...And yet, I still told the nurse, "Seriously, I did not need to go through childbirth to bond with this baby. I soooo could have saved myself a few stretch marks, weight gain and creepy mood swings and adopted". Can you believe that?

Did I mention, creepy mood swings...Anyway, shortly after giving birth, I read an article in which another new mother was writing about her experience and feeling like it was the death of her and birth of her baby girl. At the time, I couldn't have agreed more. There is an incredible sacrifice of your personal self when you deliver an angel into your life.

Over time, however, I discovered it wasn't death as much as a cloaking of old to reveal a new. My moth like state being replaced by a colorful butterfly mindset. It's here, now, that the chapter in this story ends and a new chapter is opened allowing my beautiful baby to take flight and find her own colorful wingspan.

Visiting her college campus for family weekend and seeing her with her new friends, watching her write her life story, I can't help but feel sentimental as she flutters off...