Babies: The World Will Go On

They stand there in front of the family home grinning like jack-o-lanterns: my nephew, Douglas, his wife, Katrina, smiling over their newborn infant daughter. They call her Eve. Lovely! She’s a pleasant little girl, if one can call a 9 lb. 5 oz. newborn “little.” She is just another of the little miracles we’ve welcomed in our family of late.

In about a month, our beautiful daughter-in-law, Amy, queen consort to our son, John, will deliver a little boy who is as yet unnamed although his older brother thinks he should be called Sharkmouth Razor Bullet. I can forgive Vaughn for that impulse. He’s four! Older and wiser heads are working on the name we will use for this little guy. We can hardly wait to meet him. We’ve already added him to the list of people we love.

Each new little person we welcome is a miracle and a vote for optimism. When we welcome a newborn, we are betting that the future will be better because this new soul is joining us in our world. The poet Carl Sandburg once said, “A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.” I like the thought.

It’s fun to imagine what Eve or “Sharkmouth” will bring to the world—what talents and gifts will come with them, what skills they will develop, what hurdles they will leap on behalf of us all. What we can almost guarantee is they will bring new blessings and challenges to all who know them—and they will bring love. They always bring love. It seems to come with them, unbidden.

With the marriages last year of two grandchildren, we may expect to begin welcoming another generation before too much longer. We know they will bring their own love as well. Not yet ready for the title “great-grandma,” I can wait, but I know I’ll be thrilled to see them when they come. 

Susan Aylworth is the author of 14 novels, all available as e-books. She loves her northern California which she shares with her husband of 46 years and the two spoiled cats they serve. When she can't hang out with her seven children and 25 grandbabies, she loves hanging with her fictional offspring, the children of her mind. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website at www.susanaylworth.com or find her @SusanAylworth, at .facebook.com/Susan.Aylworth.Author, or on Pinterest.