After a long battle
She sleeps
She wasn’t ready to end the day
Letting go is hard
She nursed but her body kept crawling
Bum in the air connected to the mama milk
She pulls herself up, holding my hip with one hand and arches her back to let her head hang, mouth wide open with a smile
She’s impressed
Using the momentum of her head she launches herself over my hip and slides
She uses the pillow to see the top of the head board where we keep the mysterious phones
Once again using only one hand
She cycles through these exercises all the while intermittently rubbing her eyes and I intermittently try to nurse her to sleep
It’s too exciting to be alive
Dad puts her in the carrier and we eat ice cream shamelessly while her trapped little body gets her mind in a place where she can’t help but yawn and put her big head down and fuss and yawn and rest her head again
He hands her back to me and I nurse her once again but this time her clammy head stays on my chest
-Kristen, Massachusetts
All Love Letters’ are pristine, posted as they were received. Please forgive any spelling and grammar issues, since the writing was done in the throes of love, and sometimes love doesn’t care about commas or misplaced letters.
