The Village I Can’t Believe I Found

A Day on the Cape

A year ago was terrifying. I lost my job. I was pregnant. I had a broken ankle. I was so concerned about how my life was about to change once I had a baby and was stripped away from my routine, my friends, and all I knew as my life.

I always hoped and dreamed that I would find one new mom friend once I had a baby. Someone to hang out with while on maternity leave. Someone to discuss our challenges with. Maybe even someone to go for a walk with once a week.

What I’ve found is so much greater than I could have ever imagined.

I have a community of new moms, new friends, and what feels like an endless list of friends for my little girl.

Lucky for me, three of my grad school friends were pregnant at the same time as I was. Two are now out of state, but the bond I feel with all three of them now is so much stronger than I ever imagined. Out of a class of 33 people, I feel so extremely lucky to have chosen Emerson, not just for the master’s degree, but also to meet these women who I get to share this journey with.

But, in my neighborhood, I really had nobody. So, once I had Delaney, I knew I wanted to go to the North End New Mom’s group to simply prove to myself I could get out of the house with her.

Years ago, I found out about this group and that they met on Thursday mornings at the community center. Better yet, it was free. I was close to going while pregnant just to see what it was like but never did.

Alas, in January, I bundled up my seven-week-old baby and trudged through the Boston winter to the community center. I was 45 minutes late, Delaney had gotten heat rash in the dead of winter from her snow suit, but I got there. I met one new mom immediately and to my comfort, many others strolled in even later than I was. *Thank God, I’m not the only one who takes forever to get out the door.* All their babies were the same age (born in August) and they all had it together, way more than I did. But, I can tell you that instantly, I felt like I was going to be OK.

Not only were these moms not insane, they were friendly and so welcoming. After group, they all went to the Living Room for lunch with the babies. At that age, Delaney slept all day so it was an obvious yes for me to join them. From then on, I’ve hung out with these girls multiple times a week and I really cannot imagine my life without them.

We go to lunch, go to story time at the library, go to music class, take walks, do stroller bootcamp, shop the clearance rack at Baby Gap, attend baby birthday parties, take day trips together, go to the pool, weather the winter storms, talk about parenting, snoop on babysitters, support each other’s careers, ask for advice, offer advice, and do everything we can to be there for each other and our babies. I love these girls and I love their babies.

If you had asked me a year ago what I’d be doing now, I would have told you that best case scenario included me having a healthy baby and one mom friend. I’m so, so happy that I got that healthy baby and an entire village to help raise her with me.