Story of a Onesie

To the reader of these words, this cute little bear-covered onesie is just an unassuming piece of clothing that’s not worth a second look. It’s just a onesie, why would you give it more than a passing glance or comment? You wouldn’t. 

But it’s different for me. For me, I see a story. 

This onesie was gifted to me in 2014 by a friend. It was for our rainbow baby, due in May 2015. That baby never got to wear it. I packed it away for a someday that we didn’t know if we’d ever have… or honestly, want. Losing that second baby hurt us that much. 

Since we didn’t know if we could or would have kids, and still hurting from loss, I placed the onesie in a small shoebox with a few other baby related items. For the next year or so, it stayed tucked away in a dresser drawer out of sight and unused. And then, despite knowing we’d be overseas for four years minimum, we left it stateside in a storage unit. It sat there collecting dust and age, almost forgotten but not quite.

Fast forward to 2018. The Lord blessed us with a strong, tenacious baby boy — the one we call our first and oldest, but who is really the rainbow baby to our would-have-been rainbow baby. He never wore the bear onesie either, but that was because it still lay waiting in that storage unit across the ocean. By the time we had access to it, Ro was nearly two and couldn’t have worn it if we wanted him to.

Fast forward again to 2022. Eight long years after it was gifted, our final little munchkin finally wears this bear onesie. When I see it I remember the journey it took to get here… a whole lot of tears, a whole lot of questions I’ll never know answers to. But looking at it I remember a story of joy in the midst of pain and of good gifts given by a good Father. 

So this may be a plain old piece of clothing to anyone else, but oh, the depth of my joy and gratitude to know that my littlest gets to wear it. 

At least for a little while. Babies grow so stinkin’ fast, you guys…