Before I Called You Mine

by Nicole Deese

my favorite wardrobe piece was a yoga pant that had yet to fraternize with a gym mat.

“The way to shape a child’s heart is through love. And the way to shape a child’s mind is through literature. When you read to a child, you accomplish both.”

Do you have everything you need? Coat, gloves, hat, scarf? My mom is the designated Winter Police in our family. She can’t relax if she even thinks about someone shivering.

Adoption is beautiful, Lauren . . . but it’s not part-time. We often say in group that parenthood is a hamster wheel of self-denial, sacrifice, and unconditional love.”

But that, I’d learned, was adoption in a nutshell, a recipe for all things bittersweet.