His Surprise

I remember thinking that Monday afternoon: "This time 'round, I'm going to enjoy every stage." In labor, I didn't know if this was Joey or Chloe, but even without proof I was positive - Addy was getting a sister.

The emergency c-section was a painful blur until I received the spinal. Exhaling in relief, I studied the lights above me. They told me: "Life is going to change forever."

It's amazing how it happens. We know that a moment of change is coming, but we aren't privy to know how life will grow from that single point in our lives. It's that unknowing that is the great miracle of day. The suprise of life. The wonder of a moment. I look at Joey now in amazement, baffled: "How have I become so blessed?" I had no idea what being a mom to my little Joey would do for my soul. What will come of our intertwined destinies? And, who else will be surprised and changed forever by his little blooming life?

At about 5:15pm, I laid down on my first-ever surgical bed, anxious, and heard my doctor's confidence. "This should take less than 15 minutes." At 5:21pm, after a little wriggling, life was completely born. Our lives, completely changed.

Danny stood up, nervously excited. "It's a girl? Right?"

The nurse casually corrected him. "Nope."

Neither Danny or I could believe Chloe was actually Joey. And so it was. God gave us a son. And not just any son. He gave us Joseph Casimir Grant. All 6 pounds and 21 inches of him. Tiny perfection, created and given to us that day to keep. But now, I know better. We get to keep him; for only a while. He belongs, first, to God, and then to all others who, for however long or short, get to intertwine their own destinies with his.

As his parents, we're blessed to so closely nurture his spirit, listen intently as his heart forms words and sings songs never in this world sung before. We're there, sometimes standing aside, or over him as he sleeps, watching as his wings grow between blinks. We get to be surprised by each of these snuggling and tantrum and side-splitting moments he gives us, each one blossoming like blooms, altogether stemming from his miracle moment two years ago, that, I was blessed enough, amidst total suprise and awe, to bear and witness.