When I wrote this story I was in my late thirties and childless, just like the protagonist. At the time my younger sister was expecting her first child and I got to wondering how I might feel after her baby was born.

   I imagined my sister having a girl and naming the baby after our mother: Sophia; and I imagined the christening. Perhaps I would be asked to be Godmother. Neither my sister or I have many Greek Orthodox friends, so therefore limited options for Godparents.

   As it turned out, the baby was a girl - was named after our mother - and I was asked to be Godmother.

   The biggest difference between the story and real life, was that by the time of Sophia's christening, I was already pregnant. Her arrival didn't quite set off my maternal clock but it did give me an understanding of the joy children bring; not only to their parents but to grandparents, aunts and uncles. Having not grown up with grandparents (or aunts and uncles for that matter*) I'd never understood their role. Seeing Mum and Dad with Sophia opened my eyes to a deep love I had never known. 

   The picture here was taken at my first Mother's Day. My daughter was about a month old and I had just turned 41.

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* Sisters and brothers of either parents. We did have two or three cousins of my parents in Australia