Introduction

"First she burst my bubble, then she said goodbye." So the dream mother introduces my daughter to me. Nameless, she plays in the sandbox, digging up dirt even as a toddler. Here is where I know her first: Before her hospital cry; before the bloody show. I ask the dream mother what it was like giving birth to the tot I do not yet know. Her response leaves me in a cold sweat – Now, too late to change direction: her birth inevitable, as the goodbye.