I heard Joanne’s footsteps as they crinkled on the dried leaves, scattered over the ground underneath our Maple tree. I thought that she had come to spend some time with me and to get some fresh air. Jo’ had been complaining about headaches over the last two days and I thought that a little night air would do her good.
Well… her visit didn’t last for more than a minute, in which time she told me that she thought it would be best to go to the hospital to make sure she was okay. Her headache had gotten worse.
While she loaded a few bags into the car, I finished putting out the fire and soon we were off to the hospital.
A short while later, Jo’ was laying in a bed with all sorts of monitors taped to her belly that were hooked up to that machine that goes ‘Bing!’ A doctor told us that we would not be leaving the hospital that evening and that we should be expecting to be moved to the ‘Baby Delivery Room’ very shortly!!!!
Everything was a rapid blur after that point. Nurses fussed about. Doctor’s came for periodic visits. Other specialists prepared the ‘baby warmer’ that would later be used to make sure our baby was cooked thoroughly before dinner!!! Okay – that was indeed a silly and bad joke!
I won’t get into any more detail than that – simply because I want to make sure that some of the memories from this night of all nights remain forever ours – but what seemed like a very short time later, Joanne and I were resting and thinking about this miraculous gift that had just come into our lives!
I will share this, tho’… when I saw our son being born I felt very odd. I was holding Joanne in my arms, she was quite exhausted, the moment of delivery had just past and I was whispering words of comfort into her ear. She looked up at me and my heart began to expand so that my insides hurt. As I looked back at her, my vision blurred and a tear ran out of my eye. Joanne had also cried and my tear dropped to her face and joined hers. I never knew that LOVE could ever feel as joyous as it did at that moment!
A short while later, our son was washed, swaddled and in mommy’s arms for the very first time. We had a small choice of names for him and seconds after he was in Joanne’s embrace she told me that he looked like a Devon. Devon James Kogelheide was born on Monday, October 24th at 7:38am, weighing in at 6 pounds 9.3 ounces.
Like most new parents, our first day was a bit of a blur. Joanne’s parents lived the closest and they were the first to arrive to meet their grandson.
My parents and sister had to travel a 3 hour drive and they arrived in the early afternoon.
My sister is a very love filled person and I could see that she was working hard to hold back most of her tears of joy! I’m sure that Devon will be spoiled with the many wonderful treats that Sandra enjoys baking.
Soon, everyone was in agreement that mommy needed some sleep and for the next few hours I kept watch…
… but I couldn’t contain myself for too long and soon Devon was in my arms again!
With our world turned completely around, there was little time for much thinking over the next few days. We slept when we could and we took care of our little son as he needed.
Since then, it’s been all about building a healthy routine into his life. The first topic of discussion being to teach Devon about this thing called night and day.
Every evening at around 8:00pm “It’s Bath-time, It’s Bath-time, It’s Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Bath-time!” Then he feeds, gets changed and double swaddled for the night.
To bring in the day, he feeds, gets changed and then spends time dancing around the living room in daddy’s arms while listening to some good ‘ol Rock’N’Roll – something with a deep bass rhythm! The curtains are opened to let in the light and if the weather permits, he gets a stroller ride.
Every day, we would get new ideas about how we can do the things that we need to do for him. Every day, we’ve been getting better and better. Joanne and I have never been happier and we both know that Devon will have a happy life filled with lots and lots of love!!!!
Now… even though Devon spends much of his time sleeping and growing and will have no memories of this time in his life, that doesn’t mean that daddy isn’t having fun with him!!!
Halloween was my first day back to work and I thought that it would be fun for my Peacebus students to see me all decorated up. When I got home, Jo’ helped me to take a few photos so that I could have a new profile picture for Facebook.
It seems that I’ve now become addicted… addicted to writing funny thought bubbles for Devon!!! Did you notice how I used the lyrics ‘monkey fingers’ from the Beatles song “Come Together” in this pic.
Ha! Now I’ve gotten carried away!!
So… I thought that it would be cool to highlight some of the other worldly things that happened on Devon’s birthday, to finish this story…
The first news story that I heard on the radio, after Devon’s birth was on CBC radio. They announced that new figures show that the violent crime rate has decreased dramatically. They are at the lowest levels in almost 40 years!!! One reason is that today’s youths are better educated about how to handle aggression and peer pressure and that tolerance for these sorts of crimes has decreased.
One of my hopes for the future is that education will also decrease today’s youths’ tolerance for greed and environmental degradation!
In 1978 The Rolling Stones released the album ‘Some Girls’. Over 30 years later, the song ‘No Spare Parts’ – that was recorded during this time – is found and dusted off. On Devon’s birthday, this song is released to the world.
have a listen….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mkZ2CCVlXuE
Our world’s history is also filled with many other peaceful events that happened on this same day…
2002 – Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC.
1986 – Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow.
1973 – Yom Kippur War ends
1964 – Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia
1949 – The cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters is laid.
1946 – A camera on board the V-2 No. 13 rocket takes the first photograph of earth from outer space.
1911 – Orville Wright remains in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a Wright Glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
1861 – The First Transcontinental Telegraph line across the United States is completed.
1648 – The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War.
1360 – The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War.
Hmmmm… I’m beginning to see a pattern - huge leaps in technological advances, human unifications and social justices!
Maybe, just maybe, Devon’s generation will accomplish what humanities existance has always sought after – Peace On Earth!!! I may not be able to predict the future for our world but I do know that I will always stand by my son to support and guide him as humanities journey continues…
Jim
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment