Being a mother was better than anything else I had experienced in my life to that point. I was hooked on the continual flow of love that I felt every day and every time I held my son, looked into his face or inhaled his baby scent traveling in waves off his little head. I felt pure unconditional love. I had never experienced this before, not from my parents, my siblings or Len. I was addicted to this love drug. My son’s smiles or laughs could turn me into butter. I always wanted more. It filled a spot in me I rarely acknowledged that was dark and empty. Baby love filled it with ambrosia. It was bliss.
Motherhood changed me forever.
This is when my life stopped being about me and became about my son and my husband. It is where I shifted from the identity of Dale to that of wife and mother. I now had a purpose and a calling, motherhood, but it was also fraught with identity trade-offs that eventually got the best of me.
Motherhood changed me forever.
This is when my life stopped being about me and became about my son and my husband. It is where I shifted from the identity of Dale to that of wife and mother. I now had a purpose and a calling, motherhood, but it was also fraught with identity trade-offs that eventually got the best of me.