Of course, the "live sonogram" is always much more amazing, because it's a video and the child moves around (a lot!).
It seems like only yesterday that Eileen and I watched in wonder the sonogram video of this child's father (it was 24 years ago, actually).
Of course, no matter how old we are now, every single one of us "started out" this way!☺
What a tremendous mystery it is to be human, to be given the gift of life as a person - always worthy of love, care, affirmation, support, and protection - and to be entrusted to others, to relationships that span multiple generations, and by which each one of us is placed within a family, and introduced into the history of the whole human family where we are all brothers and sisters.
We all belong to this great history, we are each called to take our place within it, to live and help one another as we journey through it, contribute to its heritage (even in the smallest ways), and finally pass beyond it to its fulfillment - which is our destiny because we are all children of God.
As I get older, the miracle of human life becomes more vivid to me: I have been a vulnerable child totally dependent on others, a parent whose children depended on me, again a son whose dying father needed so much my love and active concern at the end of his life, and now embarking upon the road of yet another kind of presence and solicitude for my children's children, for this new child (whose profile in this picture indicates that the kid already has "the Janaro nose"😉).
My own life has not always been easy. It has had a lot of suffering. But it has always been worth it. And when I fail (which is a lot!), it is always possible to remember what I know is real, what has value, and to begin anew.
Eileen and I want to say this today: "Dear precious grandchild, we love you!"❤