Memos from the Middle

Ode to My Uterus

It’s just you and me (and the dog, of course; the dog is always here). It’s quiet–like hearing the train five blocks away in the middle of the afternoon quiet. And for the first time, I’m thinking about you in an affectionately emotional way. Tomorrow, we will part ways. You’ll never be able to come back, and there will be quite literally an emptiness in here.

While I need you go to (the pain and suffering are much too much lately), I am grateful for you. I remember the first time I realized you were here. I woke up to something not quite right on my bed, and Mom assured me that I was “now a woman.” I smiled a big embarrassed grin, and I couldn’t wait to tell all my classmates at school that my red cousin had finally come for a visit.

I remember the walking out of the gym room in junior high. My jeans, which were never quite as fashionable or as fabulous as I wanted them to be, hung in 90s baggy goodness. A friend ran up fast behind me, slinging her sweater stealthily around my waist. “Girl, you need to go to the bathroom right now!” she demanded in whispers in my ear. I knew she cared about me because that sweater was both fashionable and fabulous, and to this day, I tend to measure true friendship by that sacrifice.

You housed for nine months each time the three best things I have ever created. You kept them safe and allowed them emerge when they were ready. All the kicking and punching they did, all the tossing and turning–never did you ever fail. And I am eternally grateful for you for that!

In every relationship, there comes a time to part ways. You and I have long stopped seeing eye to eye about how we could co-exist, but that doesn’t mean that I have forgotten all that you have given me. With this being our final night together, I thought it best to say “thanks!” Thanks for the lessons and memories, Dear Uterus. Thanks for the love you gave to me and my babies.

I bid you adieu!