Met with Softness

Description

It was one week before I found out I was pregnant. I was at the beach with my favorite people when I finally said out loud what I had been holding for so long. I told my dad about the miscarriage I’d had a year and a half prior and the infertility we’d been struggling with. He met me me with softness in that moment. He shared about my mother’s battle with infertility; how it was one of the hardest challenges she’d ever grieved. Though we have a lovely relationship, fear had kept me from sharing, and I was surprised by how my father held my uncertainty and my grief.

Before I knew about my new baby, before the joy and then the grief once again, before the pain and anger and the sadness that comes with another miscarriage, there was this beautiful moment. And because of this conversation, my dad was the first person we called when the doctor didn’t see a heartbeat. We were on the way to the ER and he was already on the road to visit us. He helped my husband and I during my recovery, and he sat with me in my sorrow.

It is a painting about what becomes possible when we open up. About the love that find us when we stop carrying things alone.

Symbolism: This piece is about the hesitation I felt to share my experience, even with those closest to me. It shows how vulnerability opens us to love, support, and comfort that wouldn’t be available in silence. The cut side of the board represents the uncertainty of opening up, and the square side represents the steady love of people who care. It’s also about the idea that life can be beautiful however it unfolds.