When I
first heard about this contest on The Today Show, I was sitting in my
living room with my mother nursing my four-week-old baby girl. I looked at my mom and looked at Melody Grace
and thought, “Inspire me? All this child
has done is drain me…of sleep, of energy, of time.” I was in the middle of a textbook case of the
baby blues. However, now, four weeks
later, I see a different picture; I have been inspired by my baby girl the way
only a baby can inspire.
I sat this
morning as she napped in my arms and held my hand with her two little ones and
thought of all the inspiration she brings.
A new baby represents hope, and I have so much hope for our future when
I look into her blue eyes. As I watch my
parents effortlessly turn into grandparents, I see that she has inspired them
to laughter, youthfulness and fun. As I
place my infant into my dying grandfather’s arms and see his whole demeanor
change, I see how she inspires healing and smiles. Even as I interrupt the writing of this essay
to answer her cries, I realize that she is daily inspiring me: to prioritize, to be a better mother, to be a
better daughter, a better friend and a better woman, and hopefully, to one day
inspire her right back.
--Teresa Shirlen Freed, January 8, 2004
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