| In a time long, long ago there was a daughter born to parents who had decided they were not ready to give up babies. Her sister was 12 years old and her brother was 10. That seemed a lot of years until grandparenting brought parenting into the home again. Actually I knew nothing about those deep considerations. I just did what came naturally and my wife used the opportunity to bring another life into the world. Her planning was inspired because it was 14 years after Misty before our first grandchild, Brooke, came into our world. Misty turned out to be a special child. Leigh, our first, taught us how to be parents and helped her brother and sister grow up. David, our son, reminded us that 2 kids means at least 8 times more complications and that boys are definitely boys from birth. She was born during the last full solar eclipse of the twentieth century. Talk about a potential omen. I was thirty-eight when Misty was born. The ealier parenting had worn me down and I had begun to understand that one cannot raise perfect children. In fact, the effort absolutely forbids perfection. For these and other lessons learned from the first two I knew I was supposed to "stop and smell the roses" with this one. In the years after David's birth the medical profession decided that fathers were a neccessary part of the birthing process. I was with Caro through all stages of the delivery. Watching her birth created the most powerful emotion I have ever known. To this day watching any animals birth almost overwhelms me. I had not know what I missed be being excluded by the misguided medical nurses and doctors during the birth of the first two. Now I always harbor a submerged anger towards medicine. Only God knows what they are wrong about today. I had noted with the first two things they called to my attention and tried to explain the science and facts of those things. Misty would say "See Dad" and grab my hand and make me stop until I saw what she saw. She often made me squat so I could see the world from her angle. |
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