loving as your own

let me tell you the story of blessed. blessed is the petty cash officer in the company i am connected with right now. she's married for 10 years but without a child. she never conceived despite their (blessed and her husband) efforts to get pregnant--dancing in obando, fertility workups, novena to st. jude. she even shared to me before when i got the chance to have a small talk with her that she stopped working for a year with the hope to conceive. but it didn't happen and she went back to work. but what's good with blessed is she never lose hope that one day she will have a child of her own.

and that day came. i saw blessed last saturday together with her husband and their beautiful baby boy. alas, their family is complete! i was too happy for blessed as i know how she really wanted to have a son. i even saw her showing off her baby to all her friends in the office who also came to robinson's galleria for the fun day we organized. her husband was equally proud too as I observed.

if you were thinking that blessed gave birth this year... nope, the couple never got pregnant. neither did i see blessed donning a maternity dress months ago. the baby boy was in fact adopted. such a courageous act, don't you think?

one of my greatest fears when i was a single is blessed's story. when jude and i got engaged, that fear became more intense and so was my prayer every night. fertilility was one of my concerns even before we were wed. fortunately for us, we didn't have to wait and be anxious on the possibilities of us not having our own child because a month after the wedding, we were already pregnant. that's when i had the courage to ask jude what we might do if if having a baby only remained as a wish. he's open for adoption... and me? i was even unsure if that's an option. that's why i admire blessed for adopting another woman's child and treating him as her own. just like me and the other mothers i know, blessed takes seriously his baby's innoculation schedule, deprives herself of sleep to change nappies, and worries to death when the baby is running with fever. she would buy him cute little clothes and socks, stroller and feeding bottles and toys that are not needed. what a lucky baby i must say!

sometimes i wonder why there are childless couples when in fact they are more capable of raising a child than the other couples who cannot even provide three decent meals for themselves and yet have five or more kids under their names. life is really unfair. i could not remember where i got this idea, but it says that GOD really intend it as there will always be kids that are neglected, abandoned, orphaned, deprived of decent life. and that's what childless couple's role is in this world: to provide the love and nurture these kids need. as i've said, it's a courageous act and not all are willing to take someone who's not his own flesh and blood and sustain his life. moreso, love the child as your own. but for blessed, the child is a gift regardless of how he was given to her. her love overflows and someone else must receive.