Blessingway, Another Way

When I was pregnant with Josie, what I wanted most was a healthy baby. Granted, every mother wants a healthy baby, but I can contest that I wanted it more. Not only did I want a healthy baby, but I wanted to experience everything that comes along with a healthy baby -- bringing it home, waking up at night, feeding and diapering... all those "normal" concepts of a new baby.

While we were fortunate to have everything (and more) for our impending addition, I couldn't help but feel unprepared. Instead of a conventional baby shower, a dear friend hosted a Blessingway for me and the baby. A Blessingway is a Native American ceremony meant to bless and honor an expecting mother and her unborn child. The ceremonial components and items vary, but at my  Blessingway, the most important women in my life (friends and family) read blessings, created a necklace of meaningful beads, and shared food potluck-style. The final piece of the gathering was to link everyone's wrists with white yarn, which was sheared off and tied. The yarn was a reminder of our connections and blessings to the mother and baby, and the instructions were to wear it until hearing news of a successful delivery and healthy baby.

The Blessingway yarn was a powerful reminder of all the incredibly loving and important women helping me bring a healthy baby into the world through prayer and blessing. In a seemingly similar way, Matt and I stumbled upon our own Blessingway bracelets to face our current strife.

This explanation requires some backstory... Matt and I honeymooned for 10 blissful days on the southwest corner of Costa Rica, on the Osa Peninsula. Puerto Jimenez is a small, poor town home to a similarly small and intimate getaway called "Iguana Lodge." Over the course of the ten-day stay, we truly came to understand the meaning of what locals called "Pura Vida" -- or, "The Pure Life." Sufficed to say, I cried when the small prop plane took off from the dirt runway when it was time to return home.

A few months ago, very shortly after learning about Willa's impending stay and surgery at Shriners, I came across a company called Pura Vida, created to give full-time jobs to local Costa Rican artisans who make the woven bracelets. The company had grown (and continues to grow) to incorporate a variety of non-profits who receive $1 from every bracelet bought. While browsing the colorful bracelets, I happened to find one that supports the National Scoliosis Foundation. I immediately ordered a few, and Matt and I (and Willa's favorite honorary uncle) have had them on our wrists ever since.

According to the company's website, Pura Vida embodies the values of enjoying life, celebrating good fortune, and not taking anything for granted. It's about being free and living life to its fullest with no regrets. Wearing this bracelet reminds me of the fullness of life. It reminds me to enjoy every moment and be thankful for each day. It reminds me of my brave girl who loves life.

I sent a quick email to the company, thanking them and briefly describing Willa's story. In response, they offered to sell us more scoliosis bracelets for half the regular cost, while still donating $1 per bracelet to the foundation. Amazing stuff...

While it is impossible to literally connect ourselves with all the people supporting our family and our brave girl, not to mention all the second and third and fourth degrees of separation between Willa and her many prayers, the spiritual connection has been an invaluable source of emotional support for all of us. So we want to throw it out there to anyone that is interested in a bracelet. Ask and you shall receive.*

Pura Vida :)