Wednesday, September 24, 2014

A perfect rose in our family garden

She made her appearance at 10 minutes past midnight on Labor Day.
Our first grandchild, Rosemary Lauren was born that night, weighing in at 8 lbs., 7 oz. and 21 inches long. She has a head full of hair.

She actually came nine days early. Her grandpa and I had driven through Birmingham the Saturday before on the way back home. We had a nice visit with our son and daughter-in-law, and made our way back to Mississippi that day. Directly after mass, I received a call from my son, saying that they had been to the hospital but had been sent home. We went to lunch with some friends, and then to the grocery store. We came home and went to the track for a walk. We were on the last leg when our son called back! They were at the hospital! We rushed home and hit the road to Birmingham. We got there at around 9:30, and were able to be there for our Rosie to make her appearance. After she had been with her mom and dad for a couple of hours, we were able to see her for the first time.

My whole world changed when I held that sweet baby in my arms for the first time. To see my son hold his own child filled my heart with joy.  I can only imagine what Lauren would think. I know she would really be in love with this little bundle. She is looking down on us, I know.

We have enjoyed two wonderful visits with Rosie and her parents. I am bursting with pride at the great job they are doing with her.  They have settled in to being parents and I am so happy that they are having this special time to bond with her.  We are looking forward to our next visit over my fall break. With the holidays coming we will be able to spend more time getting to know our precious granddaughter.

We love the name that they picked out and were so honored that they would name her after Lauren. It was such a thoughtful and wonderful thing for them to do.

I have a devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux. She was a Carmelite nun who died at age 24 of tuberculosis.  Due to her wonderful writings, she was named a Doctor of the Church.  Therese was known as "The Little Flower." One of the prayers associated with her is a request for her to send a rose from heaven. It goes something like this:

St. Therese, the Little Flower
please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden
and send it to me with a message of love.

And God grant me the favor I thee implore
and tell Him I will love him 
each day, more and more. 

I think St. Therese sent us the sweetest rose in her garden.