“Scars and Stretch Marks” ~ A Guest Post by Tricia Lott Williford

Scars and Stretch Marks

I have my share. Four pregnancies and two C-sections later, my wrinkled, puckered tummy looks like a "dried apricot," as my friend L. once said. It's true.

But you know what? I love my stretch marks. They are victory scars. They tell a story.

When I look at those stripes across my abdomen, I remember when my children were growing inside me, when they were just mine, when they went everywhere with me, when only I knew when they had the hiccups.

When I look at the six-inch scar from my C-sections, I think of the moment I met them, when I first heard them cry, when I watched them meet their daddy for the first time in the operating room. I think about how amazing it is, an everyday miracle, and how blessed I am that God let me participate in bringing them into the world. He could have done it all without my help.

Yesterday, I saw a bottle of Stretch Mark Eraser on display at the mall, professing to take those stripes away with some faithful moisturizing.

I didn't even pause to pick it up. First of all, I don't think it would really work. But more importantly, I don't want them to go away.  I love them.

If I could look at my heart - not the beating organ inside me but the spirit that loves and hurts and breaks and heals - I imagine it is covered with its own pink, purple, and red streaks.  Each one tells a story of quick stretching, sometimes so fast, hard, tight that I thought I might tear in two.

Stretching leaves scars. They tell a story.

What scars are you most proud of?

“Take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying.  A scar means, ‘I survived.’”

~ Chris Cleave, Little Bee

Tricia is a widowed single mom raising two young men who could charm you to the moon with their freckles.  She collects words, books and bracelets, and she believes the best part of coffee is the feel of the mug in her hand.  She has written two books, And Life Comes Back (currently available everywhere books are sold) and Let’s Pretend We’re Normal (coming in June 2015).  She writes about the happenings of life every day at tricialottwilliford.com.