Are you born with it or is it something acquired? Is it a goal society values? Is it inherent in every woman? Is it a panic decision that arrives as the clock ticks past the age for procreation?

Is it one of life’s greatest gifts—to give and receive the love of a child? Can it be replaced? Should there be a selection process, rules, and regulations? What happens if you can’t?

Does it fade with age, diminish over time? Is it only through carrying and birthing a child that the ‘want’ is eased? Or does nature choose who becomes a mother as part of some grand design?

Brigid had the ‘want’, and in time became the excuse. Kate never had it—or did she? We will never know.

Who decided it was an unfortunate fate for a woman to remain childless? Who chose to call her barren?

Do men carry the ‘want’ or is it a gift reserved for women? Does every woman have the ability to become a mother? Is nurture part and parcel of the title bestowed on those that care for a child?

What questions do we ask ourselves as we make these decisions in our lives? For some, it can be all consuming; for others, not even cause for a momentary flash upon the inward eye.

Can you manifest the want, or is it part of a grand plan that no amount of visualisation can change? Does the unconditional love of a mother shield a child from darkness? Is it the greatest gift a child can receive to experience this love, a love that is not earned, never challenged, forever constant?

Is it lived, experiential, or is it conditional? Can love in formative years set the recipient apart, solidifying love as a base for all else? Shielding, protecting, nurturing—constant.

Were Brigid and Kate forever marked by the loss of their mother? Did that loss in Kate’s life bring about the trauma in her soul? Did it make Brigid resilient, navigating the presence of her stepmother?

Did they feel the absence of their mother more keenly because it had been replaced in their lives? Did they ever know what took their mother from them—or was it simply accepted as God’s will?

Brigid had the ‘want’, and it came at a price—or did it? Would she have acted differently had she known the outcome? Was it the ‘want’ that drove her to such extremes, or was it inherently there, ‘want’ or not?

Was it worth it?

For some, it is life’s greatest gift; for others, only the sorrow of never knowing it.

Did Ben have the ability to understand the ‘want’ in Brigid? Was he simply a man of his generation—would any husband have acted differently a century ago? Was it all done in the name of love: love for his wife, and love for his God?

I know for sure, those who have known the love of a mother—the unconditional love that lives in every cell, that flows through flesh and blood, really does conquer all.

It is life’s greatest gift to a child.
Nothing in this life that can take the place of a mother’s love, not for all the tea in China.