Back

It is a Miracle | Day 140 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·May 20, 2023· 3 minutes

My grandmother on my father's side had five children. When I grew up, she lived in Bruxelles while I lived in Copenhagen, but we were close anyway. She was a special one. She was born in Sweden and left an upper-class life to marry my Danish grandfather, the love of her life and a simple soldier. Like in a fairy tale.

She was the only one in the family never to question my choice when I had a child all on my own at age 23. She said: You will never regret it. Go ahead and follow your heart. She was still expecting grandchildren, not great-grandchildren. She was not ready for it. That did not matter.

Everyone else eventually came around. But she was The Strong One. From the beginning.

When my daughter was born, she came to visit on my birthday four days later. She lived at that time on the other end of the country and had planned to go whether the child was born or not. Hoping it was.

She sat down, looking at the child, her first great-grandchild.

“It is a miracle. Every time” was her exact words.

Every time I am touched by another child born in our circles, I feel her, I hear her voice, and I know this to be a deep truth.

This particular girl, Nova, is the third child of my cousin Anna (who is more like a sister to me). We all held our breaths deeply and our tears back when she was coming. As the days of pregnancy piled up, we began to hope, pray, and believe. Thick voices, sleepless nights, black moments of heavy memories.
I have to share it. I don’t know how to, so I will go ahead and do it: Anna lost her first child a few hours before she was born. We all lost Elna, the little miracle who never had a chance to breathe. It was a tremendous tragedy five years ago, so we were all scared sh*tless waiting for this baby.

For no reason. No obvious risk except for the Big One. The fact, it is a miracle. Every time.

There were tears, we fell to our knees, and the relief was huge. Nova was born sound and safe. We welcome her with all that we are, all we have. Deeply moved by the miracle and forever thankful for the life we have been given.

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

# 140 of my 2023 writing challenge - Read them all here 

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our life like this, and we get very happy when we get feedback from you. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 
Subtle changes in our daily habits are shaping our family's journey and connections while traveling in Mexico. Read more
Having TWO little dogs, BOTH on heat while in Mexico, of all places, has proven a challenge that will go down in our personal history. We are at a po…Read more
The adventure is the adventure, and we embrace it. After a day as gringo tourists, laughing while watching the first Die Hard and yelling Yippee-ki-y…Read more
We got a cultural shock. It was a strange thing, the whole thing. How something we expected to be an experience of nature was more like … an amusemen…Read more
We are making peace with the facts of life here. This is not the Mexico we came to see; this is not a place where we will ever go back - yet somehow,…Read more
Sometimes, you just need to take a long walk to uncover life's simple joys. From birdwatching to appreciating local ingenuity, Join me on a journey o…Read more
Explore the depths of self-discovery and the pursuit of balance, inspired by tales from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' to 'Alice in Wonderland'. A person…Read more
I am in no state to write. I feel like I have nothing to say. Equally, I feel like nobody is listening anyway. Who am I even talking to? The rough v…Read more
Join us as we navigate life's challenges, finding solace in each other and in the rich cultural tapestry of Huichol art. A story of love, healing, an…Read more