It was 2:00 a.m. Wednesday. December 28, 2011. I awoke with a start. I reached over and in the dark, grabbed my Blackberry and logged in. There were no messages.
Lauren was in the hospital. In labor. She was to begin “pushing” at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. It was now 6 hours later. And no calls. No messages. Not a whisper. My mind raced. Is she okay? I sent a quick email. “Hi LP. Am awake. Let us know how things are if you are able. Love, dad.” Then I fell back to a restless sleep.
Two hours later – at 4:00 a.m. – the phone rang. One of those middle-0f-the-night, big news, calls. I grabbed the phone. It was Lauren. Now I can’t recall exactly what Lauren said but suffice to say it was something like she is nine pounds exactly, twenty-one and a half inches and she’s a 9 on Dr. Virginia Apgar’s famous test (1952). Thank God. Welcome to the world. My grandchild.
Donna and I talked, laughed, and fell back to sleep.
I haven’t met her yet (that comes later this morning) but I know that she is special. Beautiful. Wonderful. The best. I can’t believe it. Today I became a grandfather.