Josie Turns One

I have called Marian the great unexpected joy of my life.  When I fell in love with her mother, and decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, Marian was simply part of the deal.  And I understood that, from Lynn's point of view, in the lifeboat built for two, I was the one going over the side.  That seemed right and proper to me.  That Marian and I quickly and easily built our own deep friendship was a greater gift than I could have imagined.

How, then, to describe Josephine?  Unexpected, certainly.  And now, on the day after her first birthday, I have trouble remembering what the world was like without her.  Julie Miller sings,

the only thing that doesn't change
makes everything else rearrange
is the speed of light, the speed of light
your love for me must be the speed of light

She's singing about Buddy, of course, and when I sing the song, it's about Lynn.  But the notion of love that strong as an anchor that the rest of the world rearranges around rings true to me for the impact that Josie has had on our life.  I'll confess that in the months before she was born, although I was eagerly looking forward to her birth and to being a part of her growing up, I wondered, and maybe even worried a little, about the adjustment.  I'm jealous of my time and I'm used to my solitude.  I looked around at parents & families fussing with their little kids and, remembering the devotion of my own parents, wondered how I'd deal with the endless demands that would be involved as Lynn and I helped Marian raise Josie.  Maybe I even worried a little that I'd resent it.

It turns out that rearranging everything around Josie is as easy and comfortable as following the light.

Comments

[Mum]

Hi, I can't tell you, my son, how happy I am that this, the greatest of life's experiences, has not passed you by. The devotion to family you speak of is and always has been,for me,the essential reason for being.
mum -