Bagpipes, Planes, and Strings
A Woman’s Journey in Letting Go
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It Started at Birth
I guess I can say that I had to begin the process of letting go of my daughter on the day she was born. She was 2 1/2 weeks premature and so on the day she was born, she had undevelopped lungs. When she was born, she was placed on my stomach for only a brief moment for me to bond and then she was whisked away for them to work on her to clear her breathing passage and make sure she was breathing correctly. It was a scary moment but I could only trust in the doctors' abilities to take care of my precious firstborn baby girl. I was stuck to my bed with an IV in my forearm and was being monitored closely since I had toxemia (high blood pressure) at the time of delivery. I could not go to the special intensive care unit for infants since I was bound to my bed. I was in an out of consciousness for several hours from the exhaustion of labor which had occured around 5 pm on that day with snow flurries in December. The next morning bright and early, I remember longing to see my new baby but was helplessly confined to my bed. My husband came in to see me and had been to the nursery where my daughter was in an incubator for several more hours. He said that he had gotten to hold her and had already bonded with her.
When the nurses finally brought her into see me, I was beginning to get agitated. Finally, after 12 long hours, I could hold her and begin to bond with her. It seemed like an eternity. I remember those first moments being so precious. She was so tiny but was very alert and looked at me intensely as if to take everything in and take the world on from day one. I didn't want to ever be separated from her again but in those first moments, I felt the Lord saying "Don't hold on too tightly. Enjoy her, but always remember that she is yours for only awhile."
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About the Book
Author Susanne Kessaris knew from the miraculous births of her children that God was speaking to her early on about letting go, but like most parents, she wanted to cling tightly and was not prepared for the day they grew up. In Bagpipes, Planes, and Strings, she talks about how she fought to surrender to God’s will through a series of events.
First, she had a scary ordeal with skin cancer. A few short years later, she found herself facing an emergency hysterectomy. Next, she struggled to release her daughter to pursue a calling to go on a mission in South America. She later lost her father to congestive heart failure. When her family decided to sell their house and move, she was finally willing to let go and realize that God had strengthened her to face her life challenges one step at a time.
Bagpipes, Planes, and Strings refers to sounds that will forever stir Susanne’s soul and remind her of each of her painful journeys of letting go. Her inspiring story of grace and faith challenges you to embrace God, the only constant you have when your world is falling apart around you and the future seems hopeless and out of reach.
About the Author
Susanne Kessaris developed her love of writing at an early age. As a child, she enjoyed writing about her life experiences in diaries; as an adult, she began journaling and blogging. Biographies have always been her favorite type of literature. She currently lives in South Carolina.