Waiting!

October 22nd - Due Date!
The last ring on the paper chain, started 100 days ago, counting down to today.
Our daughter, Katherine, and her husband, Andy's, first child.

"Only 5% of babies are born on their due dates," Katherine tells me.  So we wait.  Andy at work.  Katherine and I eating cheese dip, watching West Wing episodes.

We don't know whether grandchild #5 will be a boy or girl, or what names Katherine and Andy have picked.  But we do know one thing with certainty. . . this child is already loved.

His/her room is ready.

Family and friends have filled it with gifts.

Mommy and Daddy have decorated it with joyful anticipation.

And Gramma Rose has knitted and quilted warmth and love into every stitch.

As I keep Katherine company this afternoon, my memories reach back 36 years, when I was a day away from our first child's due date.  I remember writing in my journal, "I may become a mother tomorrow!  "How will my life change? How will I know what to do? I've never even changed a diaper."  

There was much I didn't know about the little son who would, indeed, be born on his due date; but there was one thing I knew with certainty. . . he was already loved, as were his sisters in years to come.

And nothing could have prepared me more for motherhood.

How fortunate I am to share this day with my daughter, soon to be a mother.  Wasn't it only yesterday that she was the baby I was awaiting?