by Melissa Willets posted in Parenting

Yesterday, I was struggling to find any meaning in my life. I don't admit this easily. But as many people know, I recently lost a baby. Now, three months later, I still spend a lot of time feeling down, and depressed, and lost. Okay, most of the time.
Well yesterday, I was very much in a low place, again, wondering what the purpose of anything is. I kept thinking, "Why should I even try to keep going""
I don't find enjoyment in too many things. Each day is a struggle. It's hard not to feel like just giving up. But then, I saw this little face.

Every time she eats, that little face gets covered in whatever she's eating.
But no one else seems to notice. Everyone is unbothered by yogurt-caked cheeks, or chocolately lips, or a buttery chin. Except me. I'm her mom. I'm the one who cleans the food remnants off her little face, and sends her out into the world, clean. Yesterday, her little face was covered in the lunch my husband had fed her earlier. And of course he hadn't noticed that her entire face was coated in dried yogurt. Her older sisters didn't seem to be onto the state of her face, either.
So, there it was: The reason to keep going. In that dried yogurt on her face, I'd found the meaning behind my life, the why, the how, the will. I needed to be there, to clean off my daughter's face.
My message is this: If you are feeling low because you lost a pregnancy or a baby, or you're suffering from postpartum depres...