Stumbling out of bed in the middle of the night (for the first time without dead-eyed rage at being woken up) I realized at 2:00 a.m., this morning, that I would need to change the topic of my first article posted on this website. I had intended to write about grief, something that has affected my life greatly in recent months. Yet my topic was chosen for me when my sister-in-law went into labor. Grief seems too small a topic for this day; I would much rather talk about blessings.
Lurching awake at 2:00 a.m., my father and I set off immediately. My mother works midnights at the local hospital, so it was up to us to rush to Indiana to meet my brother where his wife was going into labor. My dad waited until we were on the highway to ask me to find the hospital on gps. His first instructions were, “The one in Dyer”, which was less than helpful. There are six care centers in Dyer, and another thirty nearby. He then added “It’s St. something”. That narrowed it down to four, because Catholicism owns medicine and my dad has little understanding of how hospitals are named. But rest assured we found our way to the right hospital in time. We rushed to be there not because we were particularly needed while my sister-in-law Kathy was in labor. Rather, we were there to pick up my two-year-old niece Lexi. A two-year-old is wonderful company in many situations. Woken up in the night to go to a hospital while mom is in pain is not the place where a toddler shines.
It’s hard to describe the joy Lexi brings to my life; all I can say when I talk about her is that she’s my favorite person. There are few people I care about enough to change a diaper for. ( I was told this morning that the one diaper I changed I put on backwards)That’s why the excitement to meet my nephew is so great, because it’s rare that I can anticipate loving someone so fully. My brother has built this up for nine months, as he is ecstatic to have a son. He was so excited when Kathy told him he could paint the nursery for their first son that he went far past crazy. He couldn’t decide on one theme, so soon they will take their infant son home to a Harry Potter-Star Wars-Super Hero nursery. For me, writing this on two hours of sleep, I am about to go meet my nephew for the first time. My brother has spent nine months referring to him as “The Sequel”, but within the hour I will meet Augustino Anthony Lombardi.
My nephew, Augie
Augustino was born at nearly 4:00 a.m. on January 6th, also known as Epiphany.
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Bad Poem of the Week:
Collapse
I collapse in a field of flowers.
My heart bleeds into the earth, new life.
My spirit rises on the scents around me
Into a sky of boundless blue; my mind
Unburdened of thought,
Unchained of desire.
All things are one, I am a flower in a field.
