Time for Change

This summer I shared a reflection from our daughter, Hannah about a migrating momma bird who settled in her back yard to give birth and wings to her offspring. Over the course of that month, she and Blake bonded with the momma bird they named Rita and celebrated the hatching of the eggs.

(shared with permission) 

“One of the eggs never hatched. I was more sad about it than Rita was. I remember thinking, “She must be heart broken. How does she know it’s not going to hatch? Was she sad? Did she cry? How does she know when to leave it and let it go? How will she go on without it? Does she feel guilty –  like she did something wrong? 

These are all the thoughts a human would have about losing a baby.. I don’t actually know if this bird has feelings like humans do, but I know I had feelings about the baby that didn’t make it. Maybe it’s because the rest of the country is reeling with the fact that Roe v. Wade was just overturned and my feelings about babies and moms and choices are overwhelming right now.

What I do know….. is Rita had the choice about when it was time to abandon this last egg, because it was not going to survive. The egg also wasn’t harming Rita’s body, so she didn’t have to worry about what the dead baby may do to her body. Rita didn’t have to worry about someone else telling her if she is making the right choice to leave it. This bird has more rights to decide what’s right for her body and her baby than I do right now.”  Time for change. 

~Lydia Patrick and Hannah Patrick Young

This entry was posted in Change and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Time for Change

  1. katrina yurko says:

    OH My, the end of this story is the real clincher. So right !

  2. Peggy A says:

    I love Hannah’s story. It expresses very well what I feel regarding a woman’s reproductive choices, and she tells her story so well.

Leave a Reply to katrina yurko Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *