Good News Is Gospill

my mama and me

Sometime in late summer 1956, my mama had a choice … Or did she?

She was pregnant and unmarried. Aware that she had nothing of her own, really, and no one else in the world. At 25, her mother had already been gone seven years. Her dad had died when she was nine.

And the man she thought she loved, loved someone else more.

Abortion was illegal then, but accessible. He knew the right people. She probably did too. Maybe the thought crossed her mind—at 25 with a degree in theater, how could she support a baby anyway? There weren’t many (any?) single-mom role models back then. Most medical procedures required a husband‘s approval. And it would be another 15 years before she could even get her own credit card.

Her only living family member, her beloved older sister, brother-in-law, and young sons were there for her, though. Steadfast as big sisters always are, offering full-hearted support and love. The sisters would raise their children together, they decided, and the kids would grow up to be besties — just like they were.

And that’s where I started my life. In a bassinet at my aunt and uncle‘s house in Lebanon, Indiana where the lilacs bloom in May.

I was one day old when my mama celebrated her very first Mother’s Day. I have loved her unconditionally ever since. Gone six years now, but I literally called out to her yesterday. Because motherhood is forever!