This is my first Mother's Day with Juniper in the world with us.
This is not my first Mother's Day as a mother. Before Juniper, there were two spirits that I held in me, and we never met them in this world.
Soon after we lost our first pregnancy, we left town for the holidays. As we were leaving for the airport, I threw some seeds that had been sitting by the front door into our yard. They landed on the crushed rocks and dirt. We were gone for 3 weeks, and during that time, for the first time after a long Californian drought, it rained.
We came home to small sprouts. Later that spring, we had a super bloom in our front yard. Every year since then, the poppies self-seed and burst into the world with abandon and irreverent joy.
Our house is known to our neighbours as the Super Bloom House.
Three and a half years later, I dance with my daughter in the poppies.
The world is in the middle of seismic shifts and social distancing, and none of this is what we thought it would be...
... but sometimes... when we throw seeds into the world, even if they land on crushed rock and dirt... sometimes... sometimes they grow.
And so, my baby Juniper, I look forward to dancing with you through it all. I can't wait to see how you grow.
Dancing: Laura and Juniper
Cameraman and Co-Parent: Isak Ziegner
Music: Toby Karlin (Unkie T)
Editing: Alex Carpenter