The Secret to a Happy Kidhood

It’s funny how a seven-minute commercial made in Thaliand for Wacoal, a lingerie maker, can bring a tear to my eye and send me on a trip down Memory Lane. The young mother and her daughter (who is the second-cutest girl cub in the history of the world) remind me of my own childhood. I had a mom and dad who loved me unconditionally and always did special things for me.

My mom and me at Christmas

When I was seven, my mom bought me some packs of baseball cards to while away the time on a train ride to my grandparents’ home. I still remember my happiness in opening a pack and finding

Michiko and Kimiko: A Love Story

Not long ago, I was reading a free weekly newspaper at Swami’s Cafe in Encinitas, California, when a photo jumped off the page and into my heart. The photo, which is at once both beautiful and heartbreaking, showed Michiko Lindsey cradling her cancer-stricken child, Kimiko. The accompanying story told of Kimiko’s battle with cancer and of Michiko’s battle to stay sane and strong in the midst of her fear and grief. Deeply touched by what I read, I contacted Michiko and asked her to tell me her story from the beginning. So here, in Michiko’s own words, interspersed with actual journal entries from her CaringBridge journal, is her love letter to her precious daughter.

Michiko Lindsey and Kimiko Lindsey-Schroder

KIMIKO ANNA LINDSEY-SCHRODER: PROFILE IN COURAGE

I named my daughter Kimiko because in Japanese, “ki” means precious, “mi” means beautiful, and “ko” means child. She may be only one-quarter Japanese but she is a full-blooded precious, beautiful child. I’ve loved her ever since I first dreamed of her when I was fifteen years old, twenty-five years before she was born.

Kimi’s nurse practitioner had pronounced her perfectly healthy at her annual physical on July 29, 2010, a week after her fourth birthday. Six weeks later, on September 10, her daycare provider called me to say that Kimi was crying because her back hurt. I picked her up and took her to Urgent Care, where I was told that she probably had caught a flu bug. Since we were leaving for Japan later that month, I made an appointment with her pediatrician for September 17, just to make sure. On the 15th, I was thrilled when Kimi called from her dad’s to say that her back pain was gone. But later that day, after going to the movies with her Aunt Dee and Uncle Chris, her leg hurt so much that she couldn’t walk. When Chris called me, I said, “I’ll meet you at Urgent Care.”

Thank God that Chris had e-mailed me the night before. After doing some online research and talking to a doctor friend of his, he had recommended that I ask her pediatrician for a CBC (complete blood count) and MRI. He may have saved Kimi’s life because if

A Hug From Richard

In her book, Heart Prints; Walking on Holy Ground, Julie Ireland Keene starts off a chapter titled “The Faces of Angels Among Us” with a heartwarming story about her son who died far too young. All the elements line up so perfectly that it would be a stretch to attribute it all to coincidence. You make the call.

A HUG FROM RICHARD

The wise words of Rumi: “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment” apply to an experience I had several years ago that remains vivid, consoling, and bewildering. For quite some time I had been focused on releasing the grief concerning my son Richard’s sudden death at age nine. For far too long I had carried the hundred pound weight on my heart and with the help of my dear friend Ione along with spiritual teachers such as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Stephen Levine, Ram Dass and others, I made great progress. I took care of my unfinished business with him, dealt with guilt over not being a perfect parent, and was able to see the wonderful gift of having this dear loving soul in my life for nine years.

I had always dreamed of Richard in his nine year old earth suit. However, after I had gone through the process of releasing the pain but keeping him close in love, I had a dream of him as a

Our Children Bring Us Closer to God

When I was younger, I thought I knew what love was. Then my daughter was born. As I held her in my arms, I realized I had known as much about love as I did about eighteenth-century Latvian architecture. And I intuitively understood how having children brings us closer to God.

As soon as you become a parent, you have a greater understanding of and appreciation for divine love. I’ve been told that God’s love is absolute, unconditional and eternal. Check, check and check.

Michiko and her daughter, Kimi

I recently interviewed Michiko, a woman whose four-year-old daughter, Kimi, is battling cancer. She told me:

When I talk to people who don’t have kids, I just laugh because they don’t understand. It’s like a secret we have; I want to tell it to them but I can’t because they won’t believe me. You have no