Christina Holmes

Sit Quietly and Listen

My mom told me a story I had never heard before about the day I was born. She had had a difficult C-section delivery and was still feeling faint and disorientated. The doctor held me up over the curtain so my mother could see the “fruit of her labor”, (her words, not mine). She said my eyes darted back and forth wildly around the room until she felt herself gasp. She said once I heard her gasp, I recognized her voice, made eye contact, and stared at the first love of my life. Her first thought? “What a stupid looking baby.” She wasn’t wrong. I can imagine with my large bug eyes, mouth slightly agape I reminded her of a small catfish, freshly caught. I was certainly not the delicate flower she had envisioned I would be and at 19” long and 6lbs 7oz, I was “solid” was the word I believe she used.