Are You Sure?
Updated: Jul 27
It was my second day in the hospital. A small pink-cheeked boy lay to the side of me. I was 18, alone, and not sure where to go next. The nurse came to me and said, “ok, Mom, let us see how your baby is doing” Mom – no one had said that word to me yet, and now it was just fact.
Did they trust me, alone, to embody this word that seems to hold so much meaning?
I looked around, confused, but the room sat empty; I took a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other.
It is now 21 years later, and someone on the other side of the screen says, “Congratulations, Dr. Gustafson.” I cannot tell you how quickly the earlier scene played through my head. Here I sat, and after 20 years in college, I heard the words I never thought I would. How am I supposed to live up to them?
Did they trust me with the responsibility? I looked around the room and realized they were not talking to anyone else. So here I go – one foot in front of the other……
