A Joyous Ray of Sunshine
Ava Kathleen, my granddaughter, joined this crazy world on July 24, 2018; but, I could not write about her birth until last Friday, August 3, 2018. Details below.
Ava’s imminent arrival, a couple of weeks early, was spurred on by inducing labor in the birth mother. This caused Dawn and James to be all hands-on deck and to scramble by car from North Carolina, on short notice, to close out what must have been an arduous couple of years trying to adopt a child. Good things come to those who wait; and, good things do come in little packages.
Throughout, they kept their spirit level high, but this old fella felt like he was on a rollercoaster. In the beginning of their odyssey, when Dawn would tell me that they were in the running to adopt a child, I immediately told Jill, Lauren and Colyn straight away that something might be happening soon, but after a couple of close misses, I just kept it between Dawn and myself, opting to privately pray for Dawn and James’ success. The two of them would get so close during these past two years, only to be passed over by the birth mother; then, a few weeks or months later, start the process all over again. Before Ava’s birth mother selected them, they made it down to the final two couples, only to, once again, be passed over by the birth mother. They had just come off that disappointing candidacy when they received information that they were under consideration, once again.
One never knows how much one can love another human being until one holds a new born child in one’s arms. But with adoption there is a catch. You can hold that newborn in your arms, even fall in love, in fact, how does one stop oneself from falling in love – they had possession of Ava, that precious new life, that they had prayed for and worked so hard to secure, a mere two days after she was born. Yet, it all could have been reversed in a matter of moments if the birth mother changed her mind within the prescribed period allowed by law. And right up front, that is as it should be. Though, heartbreaking, none-the-less, if that were to happen. It did not happen, of course, but that is why I could not talk about it until they received word from the state that they could take their child and cross the state line. That word came on Friday August 3rd. Hurray.
The day before Ava was born I told Colyn that he was about to become an uncle the following day; and “I’m going to be a Grandpa, how does that grab you, Colyn?” He said, “I think you’ve been a grandpa for a while.” No respect. When Dawn asked me what name, honorific, that I would choose for Ava to call me, I asked what James’ dad preferred to be called. She said: “Grandpa.” That’s cool with me. Grandpa. Grandpa Hutch. Grandpa Hutchings. But under, literally, no circumstance: Grandpa Vern. My head would explode.
Jill, influenced by the women, including Dawn, has been convinced by that coterie of dames that she is too young to be a Grandma – for goodness sakes, she’s fifty-five, and only in this one generation of life on earth would that be considered too young – so, she slow walked her decision. However, little Ava could not wait. Jill has opted to honor her Teutonic roots and she will be ‘Oma’. I think that is pretty cool.
Ava will be my last stop on my ‘walk about’ – sometime in mid-October. Oma will fly down to Charlotte to meet me there and to stay at Dawn’s house. Cannot come soon enough.
What a summer. Dawn and James are immersed in the most dramatic of changes. Wonderful life altering change, but dramatic, none the less. I’m just surprised that a summer that I thought was going to be pretty boring, as I slide off into the retirement sunset, should prove to be just the opposite. Not to be too maudlin about it: death of a close friend, birth of a grandchild, and a bird (Lauren) leaves the nest, all thrown into the mix. Hope this is it for curve balls for a couple of weeks.
