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My baby, Myna, is turning 8 today. She seems so tiny, so innocent, so carefree. She teaches me things everyday. She reminds me of how I used to be when I was 8 (and sadly, stopped being when I was 9).

Myna gives the best hugs ever, hugs that are full of fierce love and tenderness. I love the way she uses her tiny hand and pats my back as she hugs me. Then I wonder, who is consoling who? Happy kids, just like happy adults, are a treat to be around.

Last year when I burnt my hand to a debilitating state, Myna had just turned seven, but the amount of care she showed and the tenderness and empathy with which she took care of me, she might as well have been a wise old angel of 70! I remember how she kept bringing me a steady stream of fresh ice to cool my hand, and then she fed me dinner while I sat in the tub soaking my hand and crying in pain.

Myna was born via C-section. I had localized anesthesia, so I was awake. Thankfully, they put a screen at my chest level so I didn’t have to look at all the guts and glory. As they were pulling her out, the doctor said, “Oh look, she has such beautiful blonde hair!” I was laughing so hard, I’m sure my insides that were outside were all wobbling.

As with c-sections, they whisked her away before I even looked at her, forget holding her! After they sewed me up, they wheeled me out in the bed to the nursery so I could hold my baby girl. From afar I could see the nurse holding her. And my baby was crying at the top of her lungs, piercing screams that shattered the window-panes in the hallway.

They parked me near the nurse; as I stretched my hands to take her, I said aloud, “It’s ok sweetheart, mommy’s here. It’s all ok! Shhh …. mommy’s here.” To this day, what followed seems like a miracle to me. Myna stopped wailing. Abruptly. Not a whimper. Not a whine. She just lay there in my arms with a small smile on her cherub face. And just like that there was absolute silence. You could hear a pin drop. Choking back tears, I cried, “She recognized my voice, she knows who I am, she knows me, she knows me!”

I love my baby angel. I am blessed to be her mother.

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