Stolen (36 page)

You couldn’t know what it felt like to have something stolen from you. The one thing that meant more to you than anything else. One minute it was there. The next it was gone.

Think of your most prized possession. Think of the one thing you love more than anything else. Think of the one thing you would die for. And then think of losing it.

Think of the words of comfort given by others and how useless they are. Think of how the world keeps going on and on but how yours would stop, just like that. Think of the emptiness and the gaping hole where love once was.

Maybe you’d feel numb. Maybe it hurt too much to even contemplate. Maybe you couldn’t bear to think about it and so you buried your head in the sand and pretended everything was okay.

I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t grieve and move on. I didn’t want to face the rest of my days with that emptiness.

I chose to do something. I chose to be a mother. Her mother. I chose her. I wouldn’t stop until I had a daughter again.