From The Mouths Of Babes

A lot of my friends think I am a little "out there," particularly when I tell them that I believe in things like reincarnation and that, many times, kids remember their past lives, their roles and their gender. My niece once made a remark to my sister like "well last time, when I was the mommy I did ..." When I told a friend that story she almost looked relieved then she told me about a phase when her little daughter was always telling her some story about "well, when I was a boy ..."

I used to read a lot of books on reincarnation and some of the stories sounded pretty convincing. There was one book where someone was going through past life regression and mentioned a lifetime where they got there, decided they didn't like it and left (as an infant) and it made me even wonder if perhaps some cases of SIDS aren't just cases of souls who entered a new body, then changed their minds. A friend of mine, who is excitedly expecting late this summer, passed along this link to a mommy blog. The stories are all very sweet but this one almost required a hanky.

I'll never forget the special moment it clicked; when I realized what being a mom was all about. It had been a year since my uncle passed away and Hunter, at five, would always ask me “Do you think uncle is happy in heaven?” My reply was always yes. Then once, following this question she asked something else; something I would never forget. “Mommy if I were to die, can I choose you again?” The bewildered look on my face must have prompted her to ask the question again. I could tell this wasn't a joke but instead an innocent question that only a child could ask. I didn't really know how to answer so I replied, "What do you mean?" And my daughter said these words to me: “Mommy when I was in Heaven I saw you and I told the angels that I choose you to be my mom. So, if I were to die could I choose you again?”

I had to be very careful with my response because I am no longer married to her father. "Hunter,” I said, “I think you should plan on sticking around for as long as you can because you couldn’t choose daddy again."

“Okay mommy,” She said with a smile, “that's a deal.” And as she turned to walk away I heard her say, “I'm glad I chose you.”

And I'm glad she chose me to.

They say that your soul chooses who you spend each lifetime with (even if it is some of the same people over and over) until you resolve the issues your soul has with them. I guess I never thought of it in quite the literal sense this darling child expressed it in. Oh, I totally believe her. I've long since been socialized out of my memories of my pre-birth realm. But, how great it must have been for that mommy to hear that she'd been hand picked?