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Crib of Words

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Submitted By vonerdkg
Words 1312
Pages 6
Katie vonErden
Professor Thompson
English 2089
31 January 2016

A Crib of Words

“Mommy…is she going to have a wittle baby, just like my sister Ali?” said an awestruck 4 year old Katie vonErden. Before I can even remember, my parents have always sensed my adoration and passion for the miracle of life, babies specifically. No matter the setting, I was always toting my own baby dolls in pretty pink, floral carriages and feeding them generously from miniature baby bottles. Eyes beaming and my mouth never losing its delighted smile, I’d always love “playing mother”. Never missing a beat, from the sunrise to sundown I spent most of my hours pretending to read fantasy stories to “my baby” and create my own baby care/personal schedules. No matter where I happened to be, whether in a busy-bodied grocery store or in the confinement of my princess-themed room, I absolutely loved making up colorful stories about unicorns and rainbows—literally—and adding in my own noises and expressions to “make my baby smile”. Bubbling over with a constant energy imagination, my stories always had happy endings and dramatic plot twists. I wanted to be the caregiver that made one laugh hysterically and dance with anticipation. As I arrived at the ending of my stories, I felt it. I felt the story, its energy and excitement, bringing me closer to “my baby”.

My 41 inch height and even tinier physique defied the independent, motherly spirit and passion I had for babies. I wanted to teach, open up to, care for and love all my baby dolls and the real-life babies I excitedly saw at church, school events and my favorite place to volunteer with my family: Elizabeth New Life Center. The unassuming red brick building in Sharonville, OH, decorated only with a rather unappealing sign and a modest garden. Little did my 4 year old mind realize that within that center located in the heart of Sharonville, I’d discover my passion for developing intimate friendships with mothers and their unborn children through the art of authoring impactful letters and presentations laden with love, passion and vulnerability.
So, I seem like a strange child, huh? Don’t you worry, it gets even better! My experiences with literacy went from pretending to read to my baby dolls with the desire to forge a relationship, to volunteering in the 8th grade to read and respond to letters riddled with worry, embarrassment and heart-wrenching desperation. You see, women facing an unplanned pregnancy experience enormous guilt and fear. Recalling my endlessly happy times raising my own baby doll, volunteering to read and respond with encouraging words to single mothers fearful of having a child struck me deeply. I’d been living in a fairy tale land where I imagined all babies had eager, ready and coddling caretakers, just as I was at 4 years old. Burdens? NEVER! Difficult to raise? NEVER! Expensive to care for? NEVER! All those “never” disappeared the moment I eagerly opened my first letter. Before I unveil the experience of my fairy tale land being abruptly shot down, allow me to backtrack for a moment. The Elizabeth New Life Center provides pre-natal care to women neither financially nor emotionally believing themselves capable of having their child. Too burdened by embarrassment and desperate to remain anonymous, women will first send letters to the center stating their fears and simply seeking someone to vent their frustrations through writing and/or sporadic counseling sessions. If the woman becomes comfortable enough, she’ll decide to engage in all the free services provided. When my mom told me I could help a woman become a mother by simply using encouraging, positive words I couldn’t resist! I knew I wouldn’t get to make up fantastical stories or dive into my love for acting out stories. However, I had to try! I just imagined myself missing a night of reading to my baby doll and I’d be instantly reduced to tears. Pathetic, I know.
Let me provide a re-cap thus far. When I was as cute as a button at the age of 4, my exuberant, imaginative young self loved using literacy to bring smiles to my baby dolls whom I drew closer to with every story time adventure. As I lived on a few years, I couldn’t continue such adventures without seeming strikingly odd to those who discovered my secret pleasure. Hence, I brought my passion for mothers and children to a “mature” level of volunteering and channeled my fetchingly sunny way with words and knack for expressing deep emotions into letters with the intent to make hopefully future mothers smile. Again, just like my own baby doll. At first, my letters didn’t receive responses. At least, the ones I received back were terse and rather cold. But being the “persistent little angel” I am, as my beloved mother always calls me even at the age of 21, I kept on writing! A year later, I finally began receiving 10+ letters a week which brimmed with returned hope and openness to receiving the center’s care. Relationship! I was amazed at how a simple letter and the 5 minutes it took to write each one could change the heart and turn a frown upside down entirely. Senior year came along and I decided to take my pen-pal friendships to the next level.
At this point, I was 5ft 3in and an incoming Senior at Mount Notre Dame High School in Sharonville, OH. Indeed, I still enjoyed writing letters but I never got the chance to meet and love on the expecting women like I had gotten to hold, hug and kiss my baby doll a million times over; I was quite an affectionate child. The Elizabeth New Life Center had extremely little space which could NEVER comfortably accommodate more than 10 in a single room. At the age of 4, I was fortunate enough to have my own section of an enormous basement with plush couches, smooth oak rocking chairs and carpet that felt like walking on sand! Being the optimistic young lady I was and still am, I began inviting women in my letters to come over to my house for a Christ’s Crib bible study and girl’s tea and cakes night. You’re probably thinking, “Wait, hold up. You invited strange women into your house to study a book, drink tea and eat cakes?” Absolutely, and why not I thought. Three years later, as a Senior in college, I’ve grown Christ’s Crib into a monthly lady’s bible study night for women receiving financial and prenatal care at Elizabeth New Life Center. No longer in the basement of my West Chester home, a church near the center has volunteered their community room. All because of a passionate and joyful letter I had written to a Pastor Michael!
Five minutes of putting together some of the 26 letters of the alphabet has absolutely changed my life! An average of 100 women are now dedicated members of the Christ’s Crib group. The group has not only become a “crib” for the women to feel comfortable and safe in, but a place of rest they can experience alongside their expected child. What’s even more amazing is many of them are now engaging in writing their own letters to women in their former shoes, sharing their impactful stories of transformation from hopeless to hopeful. As more and more women experience the monthly bible study sessions, I’ve been blessed to meet, hug and kiss on all their own real baby dolls. And let me tell you, nothing compares to the telling stories to the real dolls!

Conclusion: Fill many more cribs with the comforting, hopeful and encouraging words/how one voice of interest can turn into a fully functional and interactive discourse community of stranger who now call each other friend.

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