“The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.”

- Khalil Gibran, “The Prophet”

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“Last morning, I peed my pants.”

“Last morning, I got a boo boo, Mommy.”

“Remember? Last morning, Shaila hit me.”

These are all things my three year old son, Nico, can say on a given morning. You would think that “last morning” might mean yesterday, or the day before yesterday morning. But no. Last morning can really be any morning that happened in the past. Heck, it might even be an afternoon or an evening.

We have a lot of stories about “last morning” going on in this house. “Last morning” basically is a sum of all our yesterdays; it’s where the accidents of our past took place and where we lay our mistakes to rest.

I look at my own past, kind of how Nico does. A lot of memories of yesterdays seem to jumble up together. I don’t often remember the order in which all the memories take place but they sometimes stumble upon each other when I look back at them, forming a mosaic of “last morning” type of scenes.

Last morning I had a baby named Shaila. (Granted that morning was almost six years ago now. Just stick with me on this one).

Last morning, I suffered through terrible post-partum depression, which lingered on when I had my second child, Nico, two years later.

Last morning, I started to question the marriage that John and I built together.

Last morning, the questioning grew stronger.

Last morning, John and I wondered if we were quite right for each other.

Last morning, John and I separated.

Last morning, I went and bought a house.

Last morning, John and I realized that we wanted to work on our life together.

Last morning, I had to “return” the house, just two weeks before going to closing.

Last morning, I lost some people I really cared about. Only a few of those lost actually were to death.

Last morning, I cried. Shit. I cried a lot of mornings.

Last morning, I laughed. Some mornings it was easier than others.

Last morning, I drank too much wine. In my defense, it was really in the last evenings.

Last mornings were hard.

Last mornings are now just a series of my yesterdays.

The past few years have been hard for me. Hard meaning things hurt, I hurt, I have been through things I didn’t expect and I have felt a sucker punch or two (or three) that I wasn’t quite prepared to handle, last morning. Heck, I don’t know if I am prepared to handle them THIS morning. I know I feel things hard. Even before I started writing this blog, I always seemed to accessorize my most often mismatched outfits with my heart positioned right on my sleeve, where everyone could see it.

Maybe even poke at it a little.

“Kiran’s… sensitive,” is how my closest friends might describe it. The friends who have been there for me on my last mornings and continue to be there for me might describe it as something else outside of my own hearing. If they are honest, the words “impulsive,” “constantly searching,” and “dreamer” might be a part of their description as well. I know they love me, but I think I confuse them. I think we handle our last mornings differently. I would say they do a better job than me.

They would probably agree.

The last mornings of my recent past where I started to juggle a full time job with motherhood, marriage with my own independence, family with my need to still be my own person were tough. I imagine that they are for a lot of mothers and fathers like myself who have felt their last mornings implode on themselves. I also know that there are many who handle it all with much more grace and wisdom than I have been able to manage, across all my last mornings.

My last morning were not always joyous and no, they didn’t always fit into a nice little package that I yearn to re-open on rainy days.

I feel like they belong in my past, where they will stay.

Still. Regardless of the challenge I might have felt in the most recent years of my life, there were so many gifts I got last morning.

Last morning, I had a beautiful daughter named Shaila.

Last morning, I was blessed with an amazing son named Nico.

Last morning, I rediscovered my marriage.

Last morning, I realized how lucky I am to have many of the people in my life who have chosen to stick around.

Last morning, I realized how lucky I am to have my parents, and John’s parents, alive and a part of our lives.

Last mornings, while challenging, were also really quite amazing.

And I need to remind myself of that. Whether it’s Nico tattling about his sister when he talks about his last mornings or whether its me, trying to make sense of a few years full of last mornings I once had trouble navigating. Last mornings pave the way for a new today. And maybe an even more amazing tomorrow.

Kiran