My Sweetpea

Tomorrow is Sweetpea's (Rupi's birth mother) birthday. She will be 19 years old. We have known her since she was 14 years old, it amazes me that we have seen her grow into a young woman and known her for 5 years.

We met her when she was 5 months pregnant with Rupi. We met at a cafe and I was shaking like a leaf. I was terrified. It was about 6 weeks after Dida's Dad had died and we were vulnerable, grieving and raw. We sat opposite Sweetpea and her parents and talked. We were in no state to be guarded and so we talked from the heart. We told Sweetpea what our son's name would be and why the name meant so much to us. That if she chose us, this is the name this little boy would have. She said that she liked the name and could she chose the second name? With a "yes" my heart began to hope, just a flicker.

When we left I asked her if I could touch her tummy and she said yes. I fleetingly laid my hand on her beautiful belly and we smiled at each other. I learned later what a gift that was as she did not allow anyone, even her mother to touch her tummy.

She went through so much over the following 5 months. Friends and family turned their backs on her, the father of her baby who she loved began to hate her and there was pressure from every direction. And yet she stood firm. I broke down in tears on one visit and she looked into my eyes and told me to trust her. That she would not change her mind. A young 14 year old girl was so strong and faithful.

I will always be grateful to Sweetpea. I am more grateful that I can express. She made me a mother. She took her son and laid him in my arms. She shares that sacred space of motherhood with me. But that's not why I love her.

I love her because she's passionate and true. She's kind and loyal. She's very naughty and has fallen often yet, I don't care. She admitted what she had done when we last met and I told her I knew. I have a past myself and I know when someone is hiding things. But I see who she really is, in her heart and I adore that person.

I am truly blessed to know her. Happy Birthday to my Sweetpea.