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pullingcandy β€” How To Say Goodbye
Published: 2012-03-05 18:53:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 21729; Favourites: 872; Downloads: 614
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Description Dear Unborn Child, Whom I Let Go;

When I was thirteen and four months old, and you were thirteen years younger, I decided to let you go. You squirmed in opposition beneath my ribcage, up against my pelvis, and I licked my lips and tried to smile while I leaned my forehead on the cool glass of the car, hellbound.

I remember sea weed insertion, dilation, cramps and bleeding. Orange smoothies from Dairy Queen that I threw up, and I hoped you were mingling in the remains of my summer day treat, so I could put this behind me. Pretend I was 'moving on'. I laid in the bathtub of a hotel room for six hours, trying to melt you away in scalding water from a rusty tap, yet you clung on, holding tightly to the walls of my pelvic region. Wiggling upwards, towards my throat. Past my teeth. You're trying to get out, but my family has decided you won't breathe when you're released from your bloody shackles; you may as well settle down now, sweet son, settle down.

The rest of this, to me, is a blur. There is a car ride, and protestors. I know you had finger nails, eyelids, heft and weight. I know how you were created. I am (was) just stupid, and I knew (thought) I was in love with a deviant, and a bastard, but after you are expelled I will go back to him. I think we both knew that. There is a chair, and an elderly woman, forceps, an injection. And after...there is a hazy forty-five minutes where I believe that I have died. Hope I have died. Realize I have not, and blink slowly under the glare of clinical lighting.

I caught a glimpse of you, my boy, before you were completely removed from this world; bloody chunks quiet and gleaming, no longer moving, no longer clawing your way up my windpipe to exit through the gaps in my teeth.

I don't know if I will miss you.

Antibiotics. My mother cried as she handed me the bulky package. I don't know if she cried for you, or for me, or for herself at my age. I will never know, I won't ever care. I don't even know why I remember that she asked me, after, if I was sure. I believe the proper question would have been are YOU sure, Mother. Are you sure the steps you've taken in your life that have brought us to this point were the ones you intended. Are you sure?

I remember you, small being, as I hold my daughter's hand, now. In a crowded mall, or sweeping dust bunnies from the floor in my kitchen. When my youngest wears blue, I wonder if she looks like you would have, and when my eldest stares at me in that unsettling way, that way only children know how to do, I believe that somewhere, somehow, you're staring at me like that too.

Always;
Your Mother
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Comments: 1187

SovereignLotus [2021-05-16 20:35:42 +0000 UTC]

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WOLF97777777 [2020-01-19 20:18:02 +0000 UTC]

Disgusting.

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pullingcandy In reply to WOLF97777777 [2020-01-20 04:50:35 +0000 UTC]

I'm sorry you feel that way.


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WOLF97777777 In reply to pullingcandy [2020-05-16 15:07:12 +0000 UTC]

Your poem hasn't pulled enough of my heartstrings to accept the fact that you killed a developing human baby.

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pullingcandy In reply to WOLF97777777 [2020-05-17 16:34:11 +0000 UTC]

The fact that you took the time to reply to a four month old comment leaves me to believe that you felt strongly enough on some level to come back to it. Be it negative feelings towards my work, or not, that is still a reaction. Again, I am sorry that you feel the need to be a volatile person in expressing your distaste, and I hope that you never have to go through the same thing, or make those same type of choices, and I hope that you can come to peace with how confrontational you are. You are allowed rights, and thoughts, and feelings, and a history, and so are others. I hope you're well and have a good day - Hell, a good life, but there is no need to constantly bring this deviation back up in my reply stacks with four month old replies.

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WOLF97777777 In reply to pullingcandy [2020-05-17 17:45:20 +0000 UTC]

I had some things in my life that caught me off guard leaving me to not have the time to respond. Also if you feel that you don't want to be judged for your actions, then you wouldn't have spoken about it to the whole internet. Which means you're bound to get comments from those who are virtuous for human life, even if it's in it's smallest form.

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pullingcandy In reply to WOLF97777777 [2020-05-17 20:06:13 +0000 UTC]

Judgement and attack are not quite the same. If you had taken the time to read it you would have noted that I had thoughts on the issue at hand, and how those thoughts evolved from a thirteen year old who was under their parents control in to an adult who had differing opinions on the matter. If you wish to have your own opinion, you simply may look in to expressing it in an adult manner. This is a conversation that can be held by those in question, without attack. The issue is, is that it won't be. I know how other people view this experience, *my* experience, and I am wholly in support of their view. As it is their view. I am also an advocate of sharing experiences, and this was my way of doing so - neither way of going about it is wrong. You simply hope you learn from the mistakes you make in the past, and apply that knowledge in the future. If you are virtuous for human life, even in its smallest form, fight for it like a true warrior, express yourself with intelligence and wisdom, not with one word diatribe that serves no purpose other than to show that you could not come up with a more fundamental argument on your own ideals. I have no problem being judged. I do have a problem being attacked. There is -always- more to a story.

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Poetrymann [2019-08-12 20:55:36 +0000 UTC]

I have no words to describe the effect of this on me. Your courage and grace are overwhelming. I have submitted this to New Latitudes and Wordsmiths. You just need to approve it. We would be honored to have this in our gallery.Β 

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pullingcandy In reply to Poetrymann [2019-09-09 23:11:14 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, so very much, for your lovely comment. I appreciate that you took the time to read it. Of course I have accepted.`

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2tries-of-wonderful [2017-11-14 14:28:16 +0000 UTC]

<3

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pullingcandy In reply to 2tries-of-wonderful [2017-11-14 16:29:36 +0000 UTC]

<3

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aTotalNewbie3456 [2016-09-16 13:43:09 +0000 UTC]

How to say goodbye:


Walk up to some random stranger and say goodbye. Effect: OVER 9000.



This is awesome though. It touched me so hard.

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Orphically [2016-08-02 14:49:49 +0000 UTC]

This is beautiful. Pro-choice here as well!

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pullingcandy In reply to Orphically [2016-08-02 16:32:26 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your kind words.

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Readmagine [2016-01-04 05:25:35 +0000 UTC]

I didn't like reading the exclaimer.
I liked reading the story but the exclaimer messed it up. :C

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pullingcandy In reply to Readmagine [2016-01-04 05:49:06 +0000 UTC]

I'm sorry to hear that. I wish I hadn't had to put it there. I appreciate that you read the story, I wish that I didn't have to leave it where it is. The volume of hate and intolerance I got when this was featured was more than I could handle without one there. It explained how I reacted to some commentary, and it explained that I wasn't going to put up with it. I apologize, but it wasn't part of the story, so it for sure could have been skipped.
Thank you, again.

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Readmagine In reply to pullingcandy [2016-01-04 09:15:38 +0000 UTC]

Β 

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Okeki [2015-10-29 02:32:02 +0000 UTC]

I am so touched by this; I am only thirteen now, and I can only hope I would be as brave as you were if the same thing were to happen to me. <3

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pullingcandy In reply to Okeki [2015-10-29 15:23:48 +0000 UTC]

Β I do not know if I would call it a situation where I was brave, or just overwhelmed. I like to think I was brave.
Thank you for reading. I hope you are never in this kind of situation, but if you ever do happen to have to make a choice, remember that it is yours.

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graffix29 [2015-10-11 19:46:17 +0000 UTC]

So glad you included the mother thing (the shifting of responsibilities)
It appears to me that SHE is concerned that it is not HER fault.
I see to much worry of what others may think or see.
(like what will the neighbors say or think) how is all this going to affect ME.

I love your opening. for sure well written, need I say for me very emotional - sentiment - heart - quite invoking.
Thanks for putting me through your pain. I can still feel my own like it was yesterday.

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pullingcandy In reply to graffix29 [2015-10-12 03:20:46 +0000 UTC]

Your comment was insightful, thank you so much for leaving it. You're right. It took me years to try to interpret her words, and then understand how they affected me. You're so right, with your analysis, that it brings me to fresh understanding and realization, as if she is there asking me once more.

I am sorry for your pain, but I appreciate your comment, and reading it.

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CosmicBrambleclaw [2015-10-07 10:09:41 +0000 UTC]

As I read this I tried my best to think of a comment for how well written it is and how emotionally invoking it is and the best I can come up with is this:

heartbreaking

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pullingcandy In reply to CosmicBrambleclaw [2015-10-29 15:25:31 +0000 UTC]

I appreciate that you took the time to read it. And then to comment. Any word is acceptable, it means more than you know. Heartbreaking sums the experience up, for me, so it is apt. Thank you.

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Readmagine In reply to pullingcandy [2016-01-04 05:26:36 +0000 UTC]

I don't find it heartbreaking I find it beautiful.
As in the love for your unborn child.

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pullingcandy In reply to Readmagine [2016-01-04 05:49:59 +0000 UTC]

That is another way to look at it. I know that there is a faucet of love for this, the unborn child. I've caught myself saying I have one more child than I do, at times, as well. Never to be forgotten.

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Hopefully92 [2015-09-17 21:57:48 +0000 UTC]

So immensely touching, I could feel your pain as if it was mine, but just for some seconds.Β 
Thanks you for sharing and thank you for being able to feel with you, and for you.

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pullingcandy In reply to Hopefully92 [2015-10-29 15:24:52 +0000 UTC]

Thank YOU for reading, and for commenting, and for taking the time out of your life to do so. It means quite a bit. Truly.

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introverted-ghost [2015-04-05 05:49:52 +0000 UTC]

I commend you for having the bravery to post something so very, very personal.

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pullingcandy In reply to introverted-ghost [2015-04-05 18:29:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for reading it, and then commenting. I appreciate it greatly.

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introverted-ghost In reply to pullingcandy [2015-04-06 06:56:05 +0000 UTC]

My pleasure.

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SleepingAway88 [2015-02-06 13:47:12 +0000 UTC]

I wish you hadn't had to suffer through as much as you did, as no one really deserves that pain. I wish I could have helped you at that time.

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pullingcandy In reply to SleepingAway88 [2015-04-05 18:28:59 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your wish I appreciate the time you took to read this, and then to comment.

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dbcjk499 [2015-01-31 22:48:33 +0000 UTC]

This is beautiful, regardless of the circumstances. I went through the same thing at 16. You put this in a way that I wish I knew how to put into words myself... <3 You will always live the pain and never ever forget.

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pullingcandy In reply to dbcjk499 [2015-02-01 02:47:18 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for taking the time to read it. It's not really a circumstance that I would wish upon anybody, and I am very sorry that you had a similar experience

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dbcjk499 In reply to pullingcandy [2015-02-01 22:18:09 +0000 UTC]

I am, and I'm not (if that makes any sense). I hate what I did, and I don't go a day without thinking about it,Β but it has made me a smarter, more responsible, and understandingΒ person.

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pullingcandy In reply to dbcjk499 [2015-04-07 16:09:40 +0000 UTC]

Oh that makes sense to me, absolutely 100%. It's exactly how I feel. And it's still the way I feel, 22 years later.

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PurpelBlur [2015-01-23 10:43:25 +0000 UTC]

I have a friend that I met offline who was forced to abort.. more than once. It changed her in a way I could not come close to grasp until this moment. That said, I doubt I shall ever really understand. I imagine it is something that stays with you the rest of your life.
I have no other words to offer but love.

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underorion [2014-12-04 10:44:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for writing this. I... me too.Β 

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pullingcandy In reply to underorion [2014-12-04 14:49:36 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for reading this.

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angelGraham [2014-10-29 05:52:38 +0000 UTC]

Just hugs. All I have.

Β At 13, you didn't have a lot ofΒ choices. Anyone who can't understand that, well...f'em.Β 

When it comes to other people, I am pro-choice all the way; when it comes to me personally, I am pro-life. I refuse to push my thoughts, ideas, beliefs on to others when it comes to something so devestatingly personal.

Again. Just hugs.

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pullingcandy In reply to angelGraham [2014-11-07 18:19:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and then to comment. That means a lot to me.

Your words are very true. And I commend you for being pro-life personally, that is a very, very good thing to be. Everybody deserves life, do not get me wrong when it comes to this piece of writing. But everybody also deserves the choice. There may be underlying circumstances that make it so that baby can't be born, but it's not for us to judge how other people choose to make their decisions. What you have said is such a breath of fresh air.

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angelGraham In reply to pullingcandy [2014-11-08 03:18:35 +0000 UTC]

Trust me, I know what you mean. I have friends and family members who have faced those very obstacles. I myselfΒ  had five miscarriages. Never made it past 16 weeks with any of the babies. No, it's not our place to judge others, nor is it our place to take away the very things that allow them to make the decision for themselves. Such as in Texas, where they have closed down nearly all the clinics...and such. It's wrong. Plain and simple.

Want to hear something kind of ironic. When I was a teenager, about 14, I was in Debate Class, and we were doing a group debate. I had to present the views of the Church without coloring it with my own views. Ended up I was the only one in a class of 30 students who admitted to being Pro-Choice for others.Β  It was weird, but my teacher said the ability to do that would help some day. It did.Β 

I'm sorry you have had to deal with this issue. It's not easy for anyone, but for a young teen, I can't begin to imagine.Β  You did what was right for you. What you had to do at the time. Don't let anyone ever tell you that are "bad", or "evil" or anything like that. Just know that for every person like that who judges, there is someone out there who chooses not to be the judge, jury, or executioner.Β 

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Leonfreak17 [2014-09-18 09:51:12 +0000 UTC]

Hello,

I've always been a fan of your work, its truly amazing. I came across this piece a few years ago and it's been sitting in my favorites for quite some time. A month ago I found out I was pregnant, and when I went in for ultrasound, the doctor told me that at 9 weeks my baby was very underdeveloped and would have a very hard time once he (I just feel like it was a he) was born, so I chose to abort because I am only 18, I am not done with school, and if I did continue the pregnancy I would have to stop taking my phych meds, to prevent any further issues with the pregnancy. Anyway, this past month has been so hard, and a few weeks ago I remembered this and dug it out of my favorites. I've probably read it five or six times in the past two weeks, and it has helped me feel better about my choice. If this has stuck in my head for so long, then it must prove how much of an amazing artist you are. Keep up the good work, and thank you.

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pullingcandy In reply to Leonfreak17 [2014-09-20 00:55:50 +0000 UTC]

I want to say...so many things to you. I want to console you, I want to be there for you. I want to tell you it will get better. I want to thank you, as well, for your words to me. Your choice was so hard, and you'll never forget, though the pain and the grief turn to memories, there will always be something there. Your story is touching, and I know that it hurts and it's tough to tell somebody, especially somebody you have never met, and by such you've told anyone who reads it, but that in itself is therapy. You'll be alright. You are alright. You didn't make a bad choice, you just made a choice. My thoughts are with you.

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ElyneNoir [2014-07-18 20:20:52 +0000 UTC]

I just saw this because i submitted something in the same category and you know, there are always some examples like "look, that's how submissions in this category look like" so i clicked on it and now i'm speechless.
I just feel the need to write a comment because it moved me so much... and i think writing this is very brave from you. I hope everything is okay with you and that you don't suffer from anything which happened back then.
I like especially the line "Are you sure the steps you've taken in your life that have brought us to this point were the ones you intended. Are you sure?" It shows that though you've made a mistake, you might not be the only one (why do so many people look down on woman who had an abortion as if they were devils in a world full of little innocent angels?) and some parts of it remind me of my relationship with my own mother. I could have asked the same question my mother so many times before.
I like that the last stanza kind of says "Now i am a mother". And it makes me happy that despite everything that happened you are a mother now

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pullingcandy In reply to ElyneNoir [2014-11-07 18:21:33 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this, and then to comment. It means a tremendous amount.

Yes, I am a mother now, to two beautiful live children - but I am also a mother, somewhere and somehow, to the one I lost. I am not sure why people consider abortion to be a one person decision. It usually involves much more than just one.
I did make a mistake. They also made a mistake. We all had to live with that mistake, some still do. I know I do.

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finchslanding [2014-06-25 01:52:18 +0000 UTC]

This broke my heart and put it back together so many times. This is incredibly beautiful, and I can't say anything other than thank you for putting such a great piece of work out here for us.

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pullingcandy In reply to finchslanding [2014-09-20 00:58:46 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for reading it, and commenting, and taking the time to do both.

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Nerdy-Invader [2014-06-16 22:36:06 +0000 UTC]

You truly deserve that Daily Deviation title. Wonderful and touching work.

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pullingcandy In reply to Nerdy-Invader [2014-09-20 00:58:31 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I appreciate it.

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