There was barely time to attempt any sort of recovery of my wits from the events of the past few months, having been so engaged as we were in what would end up being a painfully long goodbye, when I found myself on the road to be present for the birth of my grandson in Virginia. Even as I sit here at my desk attempting to recount the arrival of this new life, I can scarcely believe it actually happened.
Only days before we left to travel, winter said hello!
If you’ve ever suddenly had to reverse course in a vehicle, which required an unanticipated lurch backwards or forwards after slamming on the brakes, you have some idea of what it felt like to find myself racing down the highway toward the hospital, urgently traveling with my daughter who would shortly be giving birth. It had been scheduled to begin the following morning by induction, but the baby apparently had other ideas. Thankfully, we made it to the emergency room before my grandson arrived and were able to proceed with medical professionals present.
Quite unexpectedly, my daughter asked me to be present in the delivery room and capture the experience for her on video. I agreed immediately to remain in the room as requested, but also immediately began to worry that I wouldn’t be able to maintain my composure long enough to be of much use. Once the delivery team descended on the room and the pushing started, I was acting totally on instinct and found it very challenging to arrange my position so as to be respectful of the extraordinary opportunity without intruding or distracting anyone.
Shortly after the main event began to wind down, I found it increasingly difficult to focus my eyes as they were quite naturally filled with tears, and my heart was still racing in my chest, having just witnessed the miraculous arrival of a new life. Thirty-five years prior to that day, I had witnessed the arrival of my daughter as her father, and all these years later, I watched as she gave birth to HER child. It was an indescribable coming together of such a range of feelings and emotions that I found myself understandably speechless for some time afterwards. (Not that I am particularly better at description even now…)
There’s more to the task than just coming up with the words that might approach a reasonable account of such a series of momentous events, but there was never a single moment of doubt as to my love and the immediate establishment of a profound connection to my grandson, and I hope my visitors and readers will grant me some leeway in processing all of what took place, so I might render a coherent essay at some point, which speaks to the way it all connects to my theme here at John’s Consciousness.
John's Consciousness 
Congratulations to your whole family! How special that you were able to be there for his birth. He’s adorable. ♥️
Thank so much! It was truly special to be present in that way, and I can find no fault in your description of my grandson!
John H.
How marvelous! My deepest congrats to all!
What a whirlpool of emotion this one turned out to be in the long run!
We are enormously grateful for a healthy grandson and appreciate your kindness very much.
What a lovely story! Congratulations.
A
Thank you so much, Anthony! It was a quite unexpected development to be invited to be present in the room, as my expectation was that I would be in the waiting room, which would also have been fine with me, since I would still have been one of the first to hold my grandson.
This arrival was truly another affirmation of the existence of the human spirit for me, and of the invisible connections that must exist in order to explain the robust internal acknowledgement of the depth and breadth of that experience.