Making a Mess: What a Wonderful Life

One is very pregnant with her second child. One is leaving her baby overnight for the first time and still pumping. One is grieving the loss of a parent while celebrating a newborn. One is checking in on her sick third child. We are drinking espresso martinis, cooing and bouncing a 3-month old, laughing until our cheeks hurt, and ducking into cozy coffee shops in inclement weather. We are simultaneously reminiscing and creating new memories. We all share exciting news, big ideas, and also heart-wrenching sadness. It is cup-filling, joyful, heavy, inspiring, challenging, and empowering all at the same time. However, what stands out for me the most is that it’s messy.

I don’t mean suitcase-overflowing messy (personally guilty of that), but life messy. Beautifully and heartbreakingly and wonderfully and chaotically messy. There’s breast milk leaking, girlfriends gossiping, spit-up cleaning, red-wine pouring, husbands calling, and overdue story sharing. There are all the tears — from sidesplitting laughter to deep-belly woe. The about-to-wet-our pants-laughing tears, I-feel-seen tears, I-miss-you-already tears, and one-day-at-a-time tears. There are all the truths too. The I’m-barely-hanging-in-there truths, what-do-people-think truths, am-I-enough truths, and I’m-supported-yet-still-lonely truths.