This month, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we are sharing love stories. We kicked things off with a two part series from Aden and his fiance, Josh. Today’s story is one of love and parenthood. If you have a love story for the Keshet blog, let us know! Celebrate all kinds of love with our queer Jewish Valentines!
Lonely.
Fear.
Anger.
The Closet.
Hope.
Liberation.
Self-Determination.
Coming Out.
Lust.
Sex.
Love.
Dating.
Commitment.
Community.
Bonding.
Marriage.
Longing.
Questioning.
Exploring.
Dreaming of our family.
Anxiety.
Anticipation.
Joy.
Conception.
Heart pumping.
Adrenaline racing.
Tears streaming.
Birth.
Love.
Love.
Love.
Family.
This is the journey of our lives. Having been together for over 19 years, my husband and I have traveled this wonderful path. If we had only overcome the first stage,
dayenu
, that would have been enough. Had we only reached just one additional stage thereafter,
dayenu
, that too would have been enough.
But, we did want more. While we had a very full and blessed life as a couple we knew very early on in our relationship that we shared a mutual desire to have children and create a family. How we would do so remained elusive for several years until we decided to have children via surrogacy.
Lee and his family.
Today, we are blessed with two beautiful children, an almost 8-year old son and 4-year old daughter. They are the true joys of our lives. They complete us and we are blessed.
In writing this blog, I was asked to ponder how love and parenthood go hand in hand. So many books have been written. So many stories have been told. In so many ways I feel inadequate and certainly very humbled trying to articulate my own thoughts and ideas about such an important and awesome emotion and responsibility. Yet, I recognize that with all that has been said in literature, in the press, on social media, so much more needs to be said because the writings of love about LGBT parenting remains under-represented and certainly under constant attack. My husband and I stand in stark contrast to that precept and loudly say that we love our children unequivocally and as wholly and as wholesomely as any loving and devoted parent on the planet.
When I saw my son crawl and then walk, I felt love.
When my daughter gives me a kiss and a hug, I feel love.
When my son performs his piano recital, I feel love.
When my daughter kicks the ball and rides her bike, I feel love.
When my husband and I sit down to
Shabbos
dinner every Friday night and recite the parental blessings over our children, I feel love.
When I wake my children up in the morning and prepare them for school, make their lunch and put them on the school bus, I feel love.
When my husband puts our children to bed at night, reads them a book, sings a song or lullaby, I feel love.
When they spend time with their cousins, their grandmother, their loved ones, I feel love.
When I pick my children up from Hebrew School and they tell me a story from the Torah that they learned this week, I feel love.
When we roll around the floor, get goofy, make silly noises and have all out belly laughs, I feel love.
Love.
That’s what I feel every day I wake up and look into my children’s eyes.
This is love. This is my love. And no one will tell me otherwise.
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