![\"\"](\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/minnie-and-daughter.-marquee_0.jpg\")
<\/td>\nLachesha and Minnie<\/h6>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nFor as long as I could remember, I\u2019d called her by her first name. Minnie had me when she was only a teen, and we were close enough in age that we acted more like best friends than mother and daughter\u2014\u201cthick as thieves,\u201d my grandmother often said. Even after I got married, we talked on the phone every day, went shoe shopping on the weekends, cracked up over the same jokes.<\/p>\n
Minnie was diagnosed with uterine cancer during my first trimester. \u201cDon\u2019t you worry, darling,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll be there for the baby\u2019s birth. Wouldn\u2019t miss it for the world. I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
I believed her. Minnie loved being a grandmother more than anything else. She\u2019d been at the hospital when my first two children were born, snapping photos and making a fuss. When I gave birth to my daughter, she\u2019d hollered, \u201cIt\u2019s a girl! It\u2019s a girl!\u201d in the waiting room until one of the nurses asked her to quiet down.<\/p>\n
I thought we told each other everything. But Minnie never let on how serious her cancer was\u2014she didn\u2019t want to worry me so early on in my pregnancy. She started chemo too late. Within three months, she was gone.<\/p>\n
I stopped staring at the ceiling and pulled out Minnie\u2019s photo from my overnight bag. I positioned it by my bed, hoping to feel her presence. But I didn\u2019t. She\u2019d never meet her grandson. Never stare into his big, brown eyes, so much like her own.<\/p>\n
A nurse walked into my room. \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I wiped my eyes and forced a smile. \u201cJust hormones.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse shuffled over to the dry erase board opposite my bed and pulled a marker from her pocket. She scribbled the name of the on-call doctor, the one who would be taking care of Markeise until we were ready to go home.<\/p>\n
Only after she left did I notice what she\u2019d written, in all capital letters.<\/p>\n
MINNIE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I stared up at the ceiling from my rock-hard bed in the hospital maternity ward. Two hours earlier, I\u2019d given birth to Markeise, my beautiful baby boy. I should\u2019ve felt elated. And yet, something\u2014someone\u2014was missing. Minnie, my mom. Lachesha and Minnie For as long as I could remember, I\u2019d called her by her first name. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[151],"ppma_author":[2079],"class_list":["post-15501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods-grace","tag-mysterious-ways"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Mom\u2019s Last Promise - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mom\u2019s Last Promise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I stared up at the ceiling from my rock-hard bed in the hospital maternity ward. Two hours earlier, I\u2019d given birth to Markeise, my beautiful baby boy. I should\u2019ve felt elated. And yet, something\u2014someone\u2014was missing. Minnie, my mom. Lachesha and Minnie For as long as I could remember, I\u2019d called her by her first name. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Guideposts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T11:45:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-24T13:51:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lachesha Jackson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Neeraj Rai\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be\"},\"headline\":\"Mom\u2019s Last Promise\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T11:45:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-24T13:51:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":391,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Mysterious Ways\"],\"articleSection\":[\"God's Grace\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mom\u2019s Last Promise - Guideposts Articles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T11:45:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-24T13:51:32+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":479},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/moms-last-promise\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Angels and Miracles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Miracle Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"God's Grace\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/angels-and-miracles\\\/miracles\\\/gods-grace\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Mom\u2019s Last Promise\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"description\":\"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"caption\":\"Guideposts Articles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be\",\"name\":\"Neeraj Rai\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fguideposts.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g0c0183ebd910e29ad96a4a5994cce5d4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fguideposts.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fguideposts.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Neeraj Rai\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guideposts.org\\\/articles\\\/author\\\/neeraj\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mom\u2019s Last Promise - Guideposts Articles","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mom\u2019s Last Promise","og_description":"I stared up at the ceiling from my rock-hard bed in the hospital maternity ward. Two hours earlier, I\u2019d given birth to Markeise, my beautiful baby boy. I should\u2019ve felt elated. And yet, something\u2014someone\u2014was missing. Minnie, my mom. Lachesha and Minnie For as long as I could remember, I\u2019d called her by her first name. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/","og_site_name":"Guideposts Articles","article_published_time":"2026-03-10T11:45:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-24T13:51:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":479,"url":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lachesha Jackson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/"},"author":{"name":"Neeraj Rai","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be"},"headline":"Mom\u2019s Last Promise","datePublished":"2026-03-10T11:45:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-24T13:51:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/"},"wordCount":391,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg","keywords":["Mysterious Ways"],"articleSection":["God's Grace"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/","url":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/","name":"Mom\u2019s Last Promise - Guideposts Articles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-10T11:45:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-24T13:51:32+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/newborn-baby-marquee-1.jpg","width":750,"height":479},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/moms-last-promise\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Angels and Miracles","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Miracle Stories","item":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"God's Grace","item":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Mom\u2019s Last Promise"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","name":"Guideposts Articles","description":"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization","name":"Guideposts Articles","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","caption":"Guideposts Articles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be","name":"Neeraj Rai","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fguideposts.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g0c0183ebd910e29ad96a4a5994cce5d4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fguideposts.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fguideposts.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","caption":"Neeraj Rai"},"url":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/author\/neeraj\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":2079,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"lachesha-jackson","display_name":"Lachesha Jackson","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fguideposts.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38815,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15501\/revisions\/38815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15501"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=15501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
For as long as I could remember, I\u2019d called her by her first name. Minnie had me when she was only a teen, and we were close enough in age that we acted more like best friends than mother and daughter\u2014\u201cthick as thieves,\u201d my grandmother often said. Even after I got married, we talked on the phone every day, went shoe shopping on the weekends, cracked up over the same jokes.<\/p>\n
Minnie was diagnosed with uterine cancer during my first trimester. \u201cDon\u2019t you worry, darling,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll be there for the baby\u2019s birth. Wouldn\u2019t miss it for the world. I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
I believed her. Minnie loved being a grandmother more than anything else. She\u2019d been at the hospital when my first two children were born, snapping photos and making a fuss. When I gave birth to my daughter, she\u2019d hollered, \u201cIt\u2019s a girl! It\u2019s a girl!\u201d in the waiting room until one of the nurses asked her to quiet down.<\/p>\n
I thought we told each other everything. But Minnie never let on how serious her cancer was\u2014she didn\u2019t want to worry me so early on in my pregnancy. She started chemo too late. Within three months, she was gone.<\/p>\n
I stopped staring at the ceiling and pulled out Minnie\u2019s photo from my overnight bag. I positioned it by my bed, hoping to feel her presence. But I didn\u2019t. She\u2019d never meet her grandson. Never stare into his big, brown eyes, so much like her own.<\/p>\n
A nurse walked into my room. \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I wiped my eyes and forced a smile. \u201cJust hormones.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse shuffled over to the dry erase board opposite my bed and pulled a marker from her pocket. She scribbled the name of the on-call doctor, the one who would be taking care of Markeise until we were ready to go home.<\/p>\n
Only after she left did I notice what she\u2019d written, in all capital letters.<\/p>\n
MINNIE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I stared up at the ceiling from my rock-hard bed in the hospital maternity ward. Two hours earlier, I\u2019d given birth to Markeise, my beautiful baby boy. I should\u2019ve felt elated. And yet, something\u2014someone\u2014was missing. Minnie, my mom. Lachesha and Minnie For as long as I could remember, I\u2019d called her by her first name. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[151],"ppma_author":[2079],"class_list":["post-15501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods-grace","tag-mysterious-ways"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n