Insensitive marketing, Amethyst Rose,

[mdlbear]

Possibly painful stuff. flower_cat, expecting parents, et. al. please skip.

Every once in a while, amid all the horror and tragedy of a world full of war, natural disaster, and human cruelty, you run across something totally unrelated that touches you in a way a half a million homeless refugees and their shattered lives cannot.

This afternoon I read an article in the Health section of the New York Times with the title "A Lost Baby, and the Pain of Endless Reminders in the Mail".

By ALISON GARDY
Published: September 20, 2005

My daughter died in my womb at 31 weeks. It was a freak accident. Her umbilical cord twisted around itself too tightly.

"A lightning strike," my doctor said, "to an otherwise perfectly healthy baby." She had kicked to her heart's delight, developed an intuitive dialogue with her ecstatic mother, and then, suddenly, died.

Six weeks later, my husband, Ira, and I were opening our mailboxes in the vestibule of our building. To my surprise, I pulled out a handful of advertisements for baby products. "The mailman must be on vacation," Ira grumbled.

The indignant author goes on to recount a few more instances of insensitive advertising and product promotions; she will boycott the companies responsible, and I don't blame her a bit. I wish she'd named names in the article. But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Because I've been there. I am there. Even after fifteen years, I remember what it's like to go from happily bringing baby things down from the attic one weekend, to wondering whether you'll find the strength to put them back the next. I know how a flyer in the mail, a newspaper article, or even the name of a flower can unleash a gale of memories. Not all of them painful, even.

There's no message here. Unlike the Times author, I don't have a point to my ramblings. Just a sudden rush of nostalgia, tinged with a feeling I still, after all this time, can't find the words for. But I can put a name to it: Amethyst Rose.

I'm OK, really. Thanks for listening. Or not, if you skipped the cut tag.

Comments

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[roaringmouse.livejournal.com]

many hugs.

[mdlbear]

Thanks!

See you tomorrow...

[callibr8]

I know how a flyer in the mail, a newspaper article, or even the name of a flower can unleash a gale of memories.

Oh yeah. Been somewhere awful similar, cried the tears. I hear ya.

{{HUGS}}

[mdlbear]

((hugs))

And not even thinking about all the things I wish I could share with my Dad...