Here is what today looks like at the end of our street. Even Turtles Peak looks celebratory; Gael Navarro Berry has joined the world! Welcome Gael - we love you so much already! Today is a day to be happy, and I feel like calling everyone on my phone's contact list to share the news. Yup, I like being an aunt already. Congratulations to Mama Kristin and Papa Samuel. I wish I could blink my eyes and be there, but I'll see you soon.Anabelle and I celebrated by going to Tip Toe Shoes. We found her a pair of red leather, T-strap shoes with real soles. Size 20. A wonderful German woman who'd worked there 18 years measured her foot and gave her a pink bouncy ball to keep. I'm not sure who had more fun, Anabelle or me.
All of this makes me think about having Anabelle...
that hazy cocoon of time in the hospital. shuffling down the hall to meet her for myself in the nicu, holding pat's hand and dragging my rolling iv alongside me. the world was new. i felt like a queen and a child all at the same time. i was emotionally tender and happy. i had nurses, both sets of parents, friends, my husband. our healthy baby. pain medication.
More of the pieces of life's puzzle seem to be falling into place for me as years pass. I have a deeper understanding now of why engagements are such cause for celebration. Why weddings call for a party. A wedding marks the Beginning. Only the older folks really know what is to come. What it feels like to fall in love, make commitments, make mistakes, make peace, make babies, fall in love...
For Gael:
On the night you were born,
The moon smiled with such wonder
That the stars peeked in to see you
And the night wind whispered,
“Life will never be the same.”
Because there had never been anyone like you…ever in the world.
So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain
That they whispered the sound of your wonderful name.
It sailed through the farmland
High on the breeze…
Over the ocean…
And through the trees…
Until everyone heard it
And everyone knew
Of the one and only ever you.
Not once had there been such eyes,
Such a nose,
Such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes.
When the polar bears heard,
They danced until dawn.
From faraway places,
The geese flew home.
The moon stayed up until
Morning next day.
And none of the ladybugs flew away.
So whenever you doubt just how special you are
And you wonder who loves you, how much and how far,
Listen for geese honking high in the sky.
(They’re singing a song to remember you by.)
Or notice the bears asleep at the zoo.
(It’s because they’ve been dancing all night for you!)
Or drift off to sleep to the sound of the wind.
(Listen closely…it’s whispering your name again!)
If the moon stays up until morning one day,
Or a ladybug lands and decides to stay,
Or a little bird sits at your window awhile,
It’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile…
For never before in story or rhyme
(not even once upon a time)
Has the world ever known a you, my friend,
And it never will, not ever again…
Heaven blew every trumpet
And played every horn
On the wonderful, marvelous
Night you were born.
The moon smiled with such wonder
That the stars peeked in to see you
And the night wind whispered,
“Life will never be the same.”
Because there had never been anyone like you…ever in the world.
So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain
That they whispered the sound of your wonderful name.
It sailed through the farmland
High on the breeze…
Over the ocean…
And through the trees…
Until everyone heard it
And everyone knew
Of the one and only ever you.
Not once had there been such eyes,
Such a nose,
Such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes.
When the polar bears heard,
They danced until dawn.
From faraway places,
The geese flew home.
The moon stayed up until
Morning next day.
And none of the ladybugs flew away.
So whenever you doubt just how special you are
And you wonder who loves you, how much and how far,
Listen for geese honking high in the sky.
(They’re singing a song to remember you by.)
Or notice the bears asleep at the zoo.
(It’s because they’ve been dancing all night for you!)
Or drift off to sleep to the sound of the wind.
(Listen closely…it’s whispering your name again!)
If the moon stays up until morning one day,
Or a ladybug lands and decides to stay,
Or a little bird sits at your window awhile,
It’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile…
For never before in story or rhyme
(not even once upon a time)
Has the world ever known a you, my friend,
And it never will, not ever again…
Heaven blew every trumpet
And played every horn
On the wonderful, marvelous
Night you were born.
Happy Birthday Gael!
Love,
Tia Kate
Kate, that was such a beautiful post. I want to cry now. I completely agree with everything you said. I do believe a wedding is a beginning of a story and one that has many chapters to be written. You made my day. Congrats to your whole family, esp. your sister and Samuel for the birth of their son. How exciting!
ReplyDeletesuch a lovely poem. Im staring at my little one sleeping and can't help but cry. I've made it through the first week. i cant believe it, but I have.
ReplyDeleteyou are such a beautiful writer and i feel genuinely moved when i read your posts--there is so much that you write that i connect to and i feel so lucky to have you in my world. mazel tov on the birth of your sweet sweet nephew, kate!! and, i LOVE that book, we have it and it continues to make me cry ;)...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDelete