Thought 15OCT2009

THE JOURNEY BEGINS
Most people return from Las Vegas with winnings or souvenirs. My wife came back with a baby. After loading Gina's suitcases into our van at the airport, my wife handed me a small package. Thinking it would be a wonderfully tacky souvenir, I ripped through the paper only to find myself face-to-face with a positive pregnancy test. Now, my wife and I had been trying to have another baby for quite some time. So, when I saw the test, my first thought was, "What the heck is this?" Not very poetic, unfortunately, but very much the truth. So, I immediately looked up to find my wife smiling. "But how?" I mumbled, knowing exactly how but not when or where.

"I was sicker than you'll ever know in Vegas," Gina whispered, so as not to let on yet to our boys in the backseat. "So, my mom took me to a doctor. And, with all the other tests, they wanted to make sure I wasn't pregnant. But, I guess I am." Another baby. A third boy? A first girl? A swarm of thoughts and feelings went through my skull and down my arteries. I'm happy. And scared. And worried that I won't be a good enough dad. And proud of "big brother" Jeremy. And nervous that Gina and I'll now be outnumbered. And sad for Matthew that he'll no longer be the baby. And hoping we'll be able to make them all feel special. And, most of all, so in awe of my wife who once again will show how a woman is a miracle, how she brings forth life and beauty and peace into a world so dearly in need of all three. I write about the meaning in moments. There aren't many to top hearing that there's a baby on the way. The journey begins...again.
from Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother's Soul - Copyright 2000 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Every "bad" has its "worse - Kurdish Proverb