A Heart Within A Heart

It happened a little more than a year ago. It was mom’s 28th birthday and dad got her a very special gift. But there is this thing about gifts – sometimes their real meaning is lost upon the receiver. Usually that’s not the case with my (overly sentimental and sometimes emotionally hypersensitive) forever mom. I love her, but there’s this thing about being a female I simply don’t think I’ll ever fully understand.

It certainly came to light for me that day all those moons ago when mom unwrapped what may have been one of the very most thoughtful gifts she has ever received from my dear forever dad. (Mind you, that is saying a lot since they’ve known each other almost 11 years now.) He brought it to her with his homemade breakfast in bed and she gasped at the sight of it all. At five months pregnant, I wasn’t surprised at her enthusiasm at the sight of freshly made food one tiny bit.

Then it happened. The great moment when she unopened what might just be one of the most thoughtful gifts dad has ever gotten her. And bam. She missed it. While she had a happy look on her face, it was not quite as happy as when he had entered the bedroom with homemade eggs, pancakes and bacon. “It’s a heart within a heart,” I remember dad saying, with a wilted amount of defeat in his voice. Clearly it meant something to him, and he was surprised mom didn’t instantly notice the thoughtfulness behind the piece.

While that may have been the case then, it is certainly untrue now. Since that day she has almost never taken off the heart within a heart. Sometimes when no one is looking, she cries tears of joy for what that tiny little heart means to her. She wore it throughout the duration of her pregnancy. She wore it while she was in labor. She wore it when dear baby Carter was born. In that moment, he was no longer a heart within a heart. But I’m convinced none of that really matters because the necklace has super powers. So far, it has helped her not just survive pregnancy and labor an delivery, but it has helped her come out of it all a proud, glowing mother of a contagiously happy baby.

To think it happened a while ago already when mom got this special little gift. She’s even already updated it slightly with some tokens that say “blessed” and “mom” on them. But there is something about this thing called gifts. Sometimes their value grows with time. And at least from what I can tell, dear baby Carter will not only grow with time, but he will always make up a (big, important and incredibly prominent) piece of her heart. In reality, he always will be a heart within a heart for her. And that necklace, which serves as a reminder of that, will become nothing less than a timeless treasure.