One word: Owen.
Alright, I'll give you some more words. He's the most precious, handsome, adorable, fresh smelling, 3 week old, baby nephew little peanut the world has ever seen. I don't know why we use the term peanut for babies, though. They're more like walnuts or pecans than peanuts, wrinkly and soft. Semantics :)
Yesterday we spent the day flying, first from Boston to D.C., then to Huntsville, AL to spend this week visiting the little unspecified nut and his parents. On the first flight we sat next to a very friendly older man that asked us where we were going. The Atheist told him about his sister's baby. When we questioned him in return, he told us he was going to a veteran's funeral in D.C. The rest of the conversation was lost on me as we were taking off, and I very much dislike takeoff. But I got to thinking (after I relaxed) about the perplexities of the circle of life. Beauty and age, sadness and joy, birth and death, the yin and the yang. In this life you can't be all joyful or all downtrodden. It's a two for one deal, with no "buy one at the original cost" option. Whenever there's death, there's always life. I don't mean to say that you should never feel your sad emotions, or that knowing you'll be happy again is an instant fix for depression. But birth is a time for renewed hope in the possibilities of life, and not only just for the baby.
I'm off to spoil that little cashew...I think I'll stick with peanut. I just decided that I'll be the aunt ten years from now that pinches his cheeks every time I see him. I look forward to it :)
