It’s happened to me, again, twice this year.
The first time it happened was in 1987. After a very long day of trying to induce childbirth, Lydia ended up in a surgical unit having a C-section to bring our first child into the world. Because of anesthesia complications, they had had to put her under completely, and with events happening quicker than I could keep up with, they said to me as I sat next to her: “stand up daddy!” I did, and they placed this child into my arms. I distinctly remember the first time I looked into her eyes and had this outrageous sense run through me: “She’s already somebody!”
It happened twice more with the birth of our second daughter and then our son. That first look into their eyes and being shocked to EXPERIENCE the living presence of a brand new human being who was clearly already someone of their very own.
Twice this year, it’s happened again, only this time, the child being placed in my arms was our grandson and then our granddaughter. And, it’s so clear that I am in the presence of a human being who is already someone of their very own! Words fail my attempts at conveying the experience of that already-present-presence of each child as they arrive here in our arms and lives. We do not make them into the people they will become (though, sadly, in so many ways, we do try to do that).
As I’ve watched my children grow up, and now watching grandchildren even in their earliest days, it is clear to me, again and again, that they arrived as beings of their own. The adults in their lives do not have to try and make them into anything. They are ours to care for, to love, to honor, and to witness as they show us who they are.
All of that reminds me, when I encounter you, and others along my path, to be still a moment, to look into each one’s eyes, and to witness the Presence that each is. Right now, in the world that we live in, nothing may be a more important practice of presence than to witness Presence in each human being.
Babies have reminded me of this eternal lesson.
~Bob Patrick
What gifts we have been given
Very beautiful words, Bob. I am still learning that lesson with my daughter. The more I recognize her unique presence, the more I see her enjoying life fully.
What a blessing to celebrate the presence of new little ones in our lives!