- to hold or treat (something) as dear;
- to care for tenderly; nurture
I have cherished my children from the moment that I knew of their existence, when they were only a tiny little cluster of cells.
I loved being pregnant... even the nausea made me excited, because it meant that my baby was making his/her presence known! (we were bonding from the very beginning), and it was also a sure sign that my body was doing its amazing job of creating, nurturing, protecting, and 'building' a little person- just as it was so magnificently designed to do. I felt privileged to own this experience, and I cherished every second of it.
After eagerly anticipating the birth of my babies, I cherished every moment of their arrival. I think this word is so appropriate here because it really helps to depict the calm, internal focus that I maintained during my labours, as I nurtured my babies through the birth process (which can't be the most comfortable journey for them either!). It was such an intuitive, sacred rite of passage for us both. When it was over I wished I could go back in time and do it all again... sounds crazy I know... but true! I'm sure my midwife didn't believe me when I told her that my post-birth tears (which she tried to convince me were the 'baby blues') were actually because I was sad it was all over! (compounded of course with tears of happiness as I enjoyed my much-anticipated first cuddle... such an emotional time!)
I now cherish the precious memories of my babies births... I think I have re-read the scripts in my mind about a thousand million times.
So I can't think of any other word that is more nurturing or loving, or has more depth of feeling than the word 'cherish'... our precious children deserve nothing less! :-)
