Saddest Story in Six Words

Rumor has it that Ernest Hemingway made a bet that he could write a short story in only six words. The story he wrote, on a napkin, is the saddest story in the world.

For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

When I first heard this, years and years and years ago, I assumed it was about a baby who died before he was big enough to fit into the shoes.

When I spent nearly two years chasing (but not catching) a BFP, I came to believe the story was about a couple who bought a pair of shoes when they began trying, eager to fill those shoes with a baby made from their love, their hopes, their dreams. And they did not succeed, and decided to sell the shoes as a way of making peace with their childless existence.

And now...now I think those shoes were for my baby. The baby I was pregnant with. The baby that I am (I assume) still pregnant with. The baby who will never wear shoes, never even have feet. The baby I am waiting to "pass".

Not to pass away, because that has, according to my terse doctor, already happened. I am waiting for it to pass through.

This is the hardest wait I have ever had.