Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Rockabye Baby

February 1, 2016 By Sandra Heska King

ROCKING CHAIR

My two-year-old daughter was missing. I’d been sitting in a lawn chair under the Georgia pines that summer morning while I watched her play in the driveway and must have dozed off again. I ran around the yard and through the house and back outside calling for her—not too loud because I didn’t want to call attention to my parenting dilemma. My voice got shriller, and I tried to squash my panic. I wondered how long I should wait before I called the police.

I finally found her rocking on the next-door neighbor’s porch. She’d heard me but hadn’t thought it necessary to respond.

I was sure I had some horrible disease at 38 years old, but my doctor insisted my fatigue signaled depression and prescribed medication. A few weeks later, my husband and I counseled with our pastor who advised we just needed more fun in our life. We lived 900 miles from family, so we invested in sitters and in date nights (not many—too expensive), and it was just what the doctor didn’t order. I tossed the pills.

A couple years later, after we’d adopted our son . . .

Continued at the Consilium blog where it posted in December while I was on my blog break. (The ability to comment/reply over there for me seems to have disappeared for the moment… 🙁 )

Kolbie - Traditional 9

The newest grand wearing the dress my aunt crocheted for me…

 

Kolbie - Traditional 19

. . .  and my grandmother’s dress, knitted out of regular sewing thread with two steel needles by her mother( about 1909.)

 

Grief quilt 6

 

My “grief quilt, –hand pieced and hand quilted during my season of infertility and after an ectopic pregnancy that stole all my “plumbing” and almost my life and after we’d given up hope for a family. This quilt graced the antique bed in our guest room–where we set up a crib when we brought our daughter home. I made a baby bear quilt out of its scraps. (Now we have 2 children and 4 grandchildren. I’ve renamed it my “hope” quilt.

 

grief bear quilt

 

The crib quilt I made out of its scraps–used by both my children.

 

In the stillness,

Sandy

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: Blog, stories

Comments

  1. Lynn D. Morrissey says

    February 1, 2016 at 10:22 am

    Loved reading this again, Sandy, so won’t comment at length. Forgive me for being rushed, but I will say that the new grandbaby is a doll! And don’t you love passing along these famiy heirlooms? We had Sheridan christened in a beautiful gown that my great-aunt gave me. (But it was not hand-crocheted). Yours is gorgeous, as is your new little love!
    Love
    Lynn

    • Sandra Heska King says

      February 1, 2016 at 10:29 am

      Isn’t she a lovely, Lynn? Such a happy baby, too. Those two days a week are becoming a routine now, and it’s all good. (Jeremy was baptized in his grandfather’s dress.)

      Love you, friend.

  2. Dea says

    February 1, 2016 at 11:24 am

    I missed this the first time, Sandy but I love seeing this little in the pics here and on Facebook. Those dark eyes are just beautiful. My curly top grands will be here in a bit. I have them at least once a week and sometimes more. The swans came back to Arkansas years back and live on ponds about a 3o minute drive from here so I wait for a warm winter day to take them up there. We are going to take them a bread-snack this afternoon. I feel so blessed to have them near to enjoy their exuberance for life and to watch my daughter be such a fantastic mother. It is truly a joy!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      February 1, 2016 at 12:17 pm

      She looks so much like what my son must have looked like at her age. (We didn’t meet him until he was 6 months old.) But she looks a lot like my daughter-in-love, too, with her ready smile.

      I love that the promise of spring is already in the air–though it’s Michigan, and anything can happen right up until May 1. Have a great swan day with your beauties.

  3. Martha Orlando says

    February 1, 2016 at 12:41 pm

    She is adorable, Sandy!
    I do get to spend lots of time with my grandchildren, especially the oldest one, for whom I babysat countless of times while my daughter worked. It can be difficult to balance it all, but oh, the memories!!! They are priceless!
    Enjoy every moment!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      February 3, 2016 at 9:57 pm

      The balancing is tricky, I know. Especially as we age, I think. I hate having to accept I can’t do everything I used to or even want to.

  4. Pam says

    February 1, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    I love this, Sandra! The pics of the handiwork of past generations are priceless! Your story reminded me of a sunny October day when we were celebrating with our son and his family in downtown Franklin, TN. His son, our grandson, who was about 6 at the time suddenly disappeared from the various fun booths we had been stopping to enjoy since the entire main street was shutdown for such things. It was definitely panic time in the midst of crowds that we were not too sure would be filled with safe people. We fanned out in every direction and finally found him sitting quietly on the top row of chairs listening to a band practicing for their next performance. It was so terrifying that it can still turn my stomach into knots!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      February 3, 2016 at 10:02 pm

      That just put my stomach in knots. My great-nephew disappeared once at a small town festival and was found with a carney–who apparently did not have good intentions. You just never know.

  5. Bethany R. says

    February 2, 2016 at 1:53 am

    Loved this (and the continued piece). Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Sandy. How beautiful that you get to be, and want to be, such a big part of your your grandkids’ lives. 🙂

    • Sandra Heska King says

      February 3, 2016 at 10:04 pm

      Hugs to you, Bethany.

  6. Carol J. Garvin says

    February 2, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    I’m glad you shared this story. So many young parents believe they have to be perfect. I didn’t bog down until my fourth (and last) child went to kindergarten. All the grandparents had passed on by then, and our parents lived hundreds of miles away. I survived my nervous breakdown thanks to my hubby and some close friends, but it took almost a year.

    Grandparenting is such a privilege! I love being included in the lives of our children’s children, but distance once again means I don’t see some of them nearly often enough. We currently have our son and his family living with us for several weeks while their home is being repaired after a plumbing flood, and are so thankful we are near enough to be able to help out.

    Your little one is so beautiful! Love seeing your heritage items, too. Our children and most of our grandchildren were baptized in the handmade white cotton batiste dress and underslip my husband wore 70+ years ago, with a white shawl made for our firstborn by a family friend. Such treasures!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      February 3, 2016 at 10:09 pm

      Oh Carol. Four kids in school and trying to juggle everything alone seems like it’d be almost as hard as having them all at home. Or… was it finally that you were able to allow yourself to break? I’m glad your son and family have you near enough to share your space (and home their home is repaired soon.)

      I also hope our children find as much joy in these family heirlooms as we do. It seems many kids don’t have the heart for them.

  7. Lux G. says

    February 6, 2016 at 4:11 am

    Gosh, so adorable!
    I’ve heard a lot of parenting stories from friends and even just online from strangers. I’m learning a lot from them but you know what they say. You’re never ready for parenthood.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      February 7, 2016 at 8:10 am

      No, never. 🙂 I thought I’d be a lot wiser as an older parent. I think I was just wise enough to know I wasn’t wise enough. 😉

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in