The PocketRock Heart Project: Turtle (Part 2)

By Maik Strosahl

Note: Because the first part began with reference to my truck-driving, this project was launched in my Highways & Byways column. However, as this project is a special, limited series, we have decided to give it its own overall heading. Also, there was confusion about its title due to finding someone else who is using “The Pocket Heart Project” to hand out little hand-sewn hearts to be carried in pockets of first-responders. My project was not inspired by, nor does it have any association with, that cause. To eliminate any confusion, we have adjusted my project’s title to “The PocketRock Heart Project.

Turtle

Katie was always special. Perhaps it is in some part because of the loss that came before her.
    My older sister Kori was due to have her first child in the summer of 1990. We were very close then, and I was looking forward to having her new child in attendance at my wedding in November. Tragically, we all experienced heartbreak when he arrived stillborn, a victim of spinal bifida.
    Since the birth defect had already appeared in the family, she was warned that another pregnancy had a greater risk of occurrence. Yet, we were pleasantly surprised when she announced she was expecting again, and Katie arrived in good health on September 23, 1992.
    I was a cantankerous uncle. I loved all of my nieces and nephews, but I refused to call them by their real names, coming up with nicknames for each one, sometimes to the consternation of my siblings. There was Walker, PJ, Fall Flower, Berto, Jamy (Katie’s older brother mentioned above), Bix, Kibbles, and Gerber—all before Katie arrived.
    Katie was named after a diaper pin I found as a baby gift. Turtle. And like many of her cousins, she embraced the name.
    I was determined to be the cool uncle, but a distance was growing between her parents and me, making it hard to spend time with Turtle.
    You see, another thing was going on in 1992.
    I was losing my faith.

Copyright © 2022 by Maik Strosahl Michael E. Strosahl has focused on poetry for over twenty years, during which time he served a term as President of the Poetry Society of Indiana. He relocated to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 2018 and currently co-hosts a writers group there.