A New Start

Ebb and flow, ebb and flow. Those two words have been on my heart for weeks now. I thought this blog was finished. My life was too full to talk about it, at least too full to sit down and have a complete thought, to write a coherent sentence.

A few weeks ago, however, I learned I would not be continuing my job part time. When I started working in the spring, our plans were that I would watch baby part time and work part time, but as things turned out, part time was not enough -- baby needs all of me.

But, I guess I should back up because the last time I posted here, a baby had not yet been born, and that is the subject of today's post.

A dear friend nudged me back into writing. She challenged me to Write for 31 Days. Each day has a prompt that I can use or not, as I so desire. Today's prompt is "Your Most Memorable Moment." Well, my memory is garbage -- I don't have very vivid memories of a lot of my life, just flashes like a slideshow on fast forward. Of course, I remember my wedding, the birth of each child, and some other events, some of which are very sad. But my most recent "Most Memorable Moment" was the day my very first grandchild was born, on July 21.

When the time for the baby to be born came close we decided not to wait at the hospital while our daughter-in-law labored, rather wait until they were settled and had caught their collective breath. We knew, however, that our daughter-in-law was in labor when we went to bed on July 20. Early in the morning on July 21 we got a phone call from my son saying, "I can see his head! Come now!"

We woke Faith, dressed and drove to the hospital, getting a phone call (I think we were on the road) saying he had been born, our sweet Maximilian Paul (named after St. Maximilian Kolbe). We arrived at the waiting room and after our daughter-in-law's mother saw her daughter and baby Max, my son came to bring me to the room -- only one person at a time in labor and delivery. When I entered the room the nurse was getting my daughter-in-law ready to move to her post-partum room, but my son lifted his son from his mother's arms and placed him in mine and I experienced the most magnificent love one can experience on this earth.

I had been told by other grandparents, for at least the nine months of the pregnancy, how wonderful it would be to be a grandmother, and I believed it, but I was completely unprepared for the overpowering love I felt for that baby the moment he was placed in my arms. Here in my arms was my son's son, my first grandchild -- something my own father never lived long enough to experience. I was overwhelmed by the tremendously deep and immediate love I felt for him. What a joy! What a gift from God!

There is a Welsh saying, "Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild."

That saying is so true. 

I have always loved my children with unconditional love, but this love, this love is so different. It is deep and wide and I often feel as if my heart could truly just burst for love of this darling boy. I know I will love all of my grandchildren the same, but the memory of the birth of this first will never fade, because it began with love.

Maximilian Paul

Born July 21, 2017