How Must it Feel?

All of my life, I've known that my mom loves me. Even during the sometimes tumultuous teenage years, I've knew that she loved me unconditionally, although I'm sure there were plenty of times when she wanted to throttle me. (My father's a different story, but I'm not going into that here.)

So many people don't have that unconditional love, even though a parent's love is supposed to be a given. As I read about the children who have been given up (or abandoned) under Nebraska's Safe Haven Law, my heart just breaks. For these children and parents, it often appears that the love is conditional, which is horribly sad.

Under Nebraska's Safe Haven Law, any "minor" can be left at a hospital if the parent feels as though he or she can no longer care for the child. The problem is that there is a major loophole in the law -- the word "minor" was not defined; thus, as of today, 31 children have been abandoned at hospitals -- children of all ages, up to and including 18. One father abandoned nine of his 10 children. I completely understand the rationale behind these laws that many states have -- they're to prevent parents from just throwing away babies, as they're typically designed to protect infants.

I can only imagine how these children must feel. The infants and small children probably won't remember being left, but what about the older children? How must it feel to have your parent actually say that you are unwanted, and in some cases, truly unloved?

Some argue that these children now are able to be in a better place, which might be the case in some instances. Hopefully that's true. Hopefully these children now are in a place where they are loved, cared for, receive counseling, and know that they have a happier future. Hopefully these children will eventually know unconditional love.

This just underscores that I'm a very, very, very lucky and blessed person. I know that I am loved and can rest warm with that thought tonight. In fact, I think I'm going to call my mom and tell her how much she is loved.