Even Though the Snow Is Melting...

There is one little snowperson just starting to pick up speed! We found out this weekend that my nephew Carl and my niece Meg are expecting a baby on Seamus's 6th birthday! We are so completely delighted - not only for Carl and Meg but for Chris, Cathy and the rest of the crew. They will deliver this little snowbeing six weeks before Pat and Danielle's wedding - which is very reminiscent for us of having Seamus right before Tom and Andie's wedding.

I get so emotional about these new babies in our family (Eric and Kathy's twins are precious) because I feel like having a child (assuming your life is stable enough for it) is such an act of hopeful selflessness. It seems as though we always hear about the down side of having children, the financial crunch, the lifestyle changes, and of course that bad parenting that is all over the news. It seems that there must be 10 monster parents for every good one and I cannot help but believe that just isn't true.

Certainly, there is terrible abuse and neglect that goes on in our world, wrongs that we choose to look away from each day (because it couldn't possibly be our responsibility to stand up and do the right thing). Truly there is nothing harder than parenting because it calls everything we know about ourselves into question. I can't tell you how much being a parent has changed how I view the world - it has not made me more insular and conservative, in fact quite the opposite. Being a parent has made me realize that I have to face the world more bravely, even more brazenly than I would have before. Having to explain poverty, exclusions and mortality to kids, having to say these things out loud makes you listen to what you really believe. Why do people get sick? Why do some children not have houses? Why are those people fighting? I try so hard to avoid saying things like "it's complicated, you won't understand."

But having your first child seems to be the happy/terrifying moment when you realize that you are one (very small) piece of a much larger, magnificent puzzle. And for me at least, the first time I realized how complexly, wonderful that puzzle really is. Children remind us that nothing is impossible, everything has value and that everyone is capable of something good.

One moment you are an island, the next you are a teacher, protector, admirer, admonisher, chief executive officer, janitor, coach and den leader all in one. And "Happy Birthday" will never mean the same thing again.

Each child offers their parents a chance for new birth themselves - a chance to learn, reinvent, rediscover and rejoice. Nothing redefines who you are like meeting your child for the first time - it is a wondrous, miraculous gift. And it is never more clear where babies come from than in those first few, glistening moments of brand new love. Love is the ultimate connection that began long before us and will continue on long after us.

Congrats, Carl and Meg. You're going to be great - and we are so grateful to be able to watch it all happen. Carlo, from playing at the duplex to riding the St. Joe's bus, from babysitting on Theresa Street to picnic's at the lake, from your wonderful wedding to your new house, I treasure this journey with you and your new growing family. Our history is our family, our family is our life's love.

Life is such a blessed brilliance.