I waited a few days to write this entry on the blog. I wanted to make sure the emotions were
right.
We had sat down for the 4th of July dinner at our
place and had invited a couple of friends over.
In the middle of it, the phone rings.
I told my wife, Judy, not to answer it since we were eating. She did and I’m glad she did.
Our youngest son, Nick, was on the other end of the phone to
tell us that we were grandparents for the 9th time. Graham Wesley Heeren had been born less than
two hours before the call. We were at
the hospital 90 minutes later.
It was the first time since my daughter was born just over
26 years ago that I had held a human being who four hours earlier was not in
our world. It is really hard to put into
words the emotions that were churning inside. Here was this fragile person in
my hands who had his full life ahead of him.
Here was a person who would be influenced by dozens and dozens of people
over the next several decades that would shape and mold him yet I did not know
how that will turn out.
But most importantly
I held in my hands a miracle. There is
no other accurate way to describe it.
When you consider the complexities of the human body, it was a miracle. And
I know of only one place where miracles originate. The newborn is also a
gift. It is a gift to be treasured, to
be nurtured and to be appreciated.
I am pretty certain those attributes will be a part of
Graham’s life. We can only hope that
every child, who should be viewed as a miracle, has an opportunity to
experience those attributes as well.
