blessingway

A few weekends ago, Ani and Dan headed uptown for a date, which I think consisted of some raucous game of kickball in the halls outside his office, and dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  Dreamy, by all accounts.

date-ready

Eliza and I headed out into the country to the blessingway and birthday of one of our dearest friends.  Eliza was honored to be included, and she was asked to come early, to start the henna drawing on the great beautiful belly.  

I had never been to a blessingway before (I know - for being a doula and a fairly granola mama, you'd think I'd been to more, but nope!), and we both loved being a part of a group of women.  At one point there was the tying of a "web" - a representation, in red yarn, of how we women are connected to each other and to women of past and future centuries.  (I've been rereading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, so this was really resonating with me!)  At the end of the web ceremony, each woman (and girl) is left with a piece long enough to tie around her wrist, to wear until the baby arrives, as a reminder that we are all a part of the birthing mama's community.

When we were on our way home Eliza told me that she'd tied two red ties around her ankles.  One was for M, our mama friend, and the other? It was to mark the first time she'd felt included in a group of women, as a woman.  Pretty powerful.