Spring Blooms; Spring Snows

By Emily Carrington EPLA Executive Director

A few weeks ago we had a BEAUTIFUL warm and sunny spring Saturday. Could it be? An early spring here in Southern Michigan? Could the gray shadows of March and April rain give way to the sun?! The bulbs were starting to produce shoots peeking above the soil, the birds were chirping, everything pointed to spring. 

​A week later, it was 20 degrees and snowed for three days. Of course. I knew better. I am a true midwesterner, and a March spring day is only a sign and hope of things to come. 

In many ways, every pregnancy after my first miscarriage felt like that warm March day. Each pregnancy began full of beauty, joy, and life. Each child was worthy of enjoyment for his or her own sake. Each life was something to bask in, celebrate, and know deeply. 

But over every pregnancy also loomed that dread of snow. Is this pregnancy for “real” or is it going to be cut short? Is spring ahead or is winter still here? 

The weight of worry could sometimes feel like it was too much to bear. 
While darkness often covers those early days of pregnancy after loss, we can look to the hope of the first spring flowers poking out of the snow. They remind us of the promise and hope that life perseveres, even through the cold, dark snow. 

Emily Carrington is a freelance writer, wife, mother, and founder of the EPLA.