It’s OK to Say Miscarriage

I’ve mentioned Marcie Beasley in a few posts. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you how from the moment we met our lives intertwined. When I started working at Texas Tech, we had both just met the men we would marry. We married 1 month apart. Marcie became a grandmother and I became a mother for the first time in a few months span.
Marcie visited me almost weekly when I was home on maternity leave. Sometimes she held Micah while I took a shower. What a friend! When I returned to work, I found out I had to have surgery. Marcie sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers to let me know she was thinking of me. She also pulled some strings and got Micah into the daycare that had a long waiting list.
When Micah was two months old, Marcie was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She handled the diagnosis and treatment with grace that only a strong woman of God possessed. Right before she died, a huge party was thrown by Marcie’s friends. At the party, Marcie wrote a letter about how her faith was tested when she had a miscarriage and because she survived that she knew she had the faith to make it through this.
Marcie gave me a gift that day. It’s OK to talk about miscarriage. She was in the throes of a horrible illness and trying to keep smiling, but she also acknowledged the pain she experienced when she had a miscarriage almost 30 years ago.
Chris, Micah and I took Marcie and Steve dinner a few weeks later. Her daughter, Carol, was there and Carol played and laughed with Micah for almost 30 minutes. Marcie and I were hugging as we looked on. I said to her: "Look at Carol. She knows what's she is doing. She is going to be a great mom." Marcie replied: "The best!" That is the last time I saw Marcie alive.
Each day I take Micah to daycare I think of Marcie. She made it possible and he is thriving there. From time to time, I remember the last time I saw her. Sometimes I can still hear her laugh. And I take into the rest of my life the important lesson she taught me: “It’s OK to say miscarriage.”