Stories Make Life Shine: Instinct

She lies on her back in her crib, snugly swaddled. I pat her belly slowly, rhythmically and wait for her fussing to slow to a stop. I watch my hand almost as if it belongs to someone else. It is instinct that has taught me how to comfort my babies, and although I can’t remember it with clarity, I am sure that I patted my other two babies this exact same way. I can feel it in the steady beat of my hand, sense it in the trembling rise and fall of her chest.

“Stories Make Life Shine” is a series of brief personal essays in which I take a break from playing commentator and try my hand at playing writer. For one entry, I write in present tense and try to capture the scene. The point is to keep it short and not labor over it to the point of losing your love for it. I hope that you’ll be inspired to write your own life vignettes. For more from this series, click here. As always, thank you for reading! {Erica}