Her mother’s death became one of the most painful experiences in her life, and poetry became a way to express some of that grief. Pregnancy during her education brought another question into focus: could Erika Jackson Bailey become a mother without losing the identity she had worked to build? Marriage and motherhood became part of that story, along with the education and professional life she had pursued. The memoir brings these experiences together in Erika Jackson Bailey own words, leaving room for memories that are painful, funny, complicated, and deeply personal.