Jul 15 2008
New Granddaughter is Born!
Today I am a grandfather to a baby girl born to my son and daughter-in-law: their first. She is beautiful (of course) and healthy and a hefty 7 lbs 14.5 oz. The new Mom and Dad are doing great.
If you click on the little photo, a full size photo should open in its own page.
There is no joy to equal the birth of a new baby. Grandpa’s like me think it is an extraordinary event in that we are SO FORTUNATE to be around to share it with our adult
children. This is one of the great joys of retirement too: I don’t have to be at work today so I could be at the hospital with the rest of the family.
We can never become indifferent to such an event. It remains today, as it always has been, a miracle on Earth.
As compared to MY day, however, there are some big differences about how a new baby comes into the world. For one thing, and I guess this is the BIGGEST difference, is that the entire family gathers around in a room and watches! In my day it was a big thing if the Dad was ”allowed” into the presence of this miracle. Now, it’s grandma and grandpa, the child’s siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, and best friends forever (bff’s).
Another big difference is the camera! Wow. Not just a Brownie snapshot, or a Polaroid instant, but a Digital camera and a Digital VIDEO camera to record the entire event–CLOSE UP TOO– (or TOO close up, depending on one’s point of view). Yes, the secretive nature of childbirth is now explicit and in living color for all to “enjoy.” So far as I know, at least in our extended family, the decision for the cameras is still left up to the prospective Mom. But I have been amazed at how willing they are to have this all shared with posterity.
Perhaps I am old fashioned, but I still appreciate the privacy of some things, and this special event is one of them.
