“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
A week or so ago, Joyce had to stay up late to get a few things done. As a result, she was only going to get about two hours of sleep before I had to go to work. When I brought Frannie upstairs, I realized that Joyce was too tired, and needed sleep. I decided to call my work to tell them I wasn't coming in that day.
I was completely dressed for work when I brought Frannie back downstairs. When I did so, I found out that my son was home early because it was the last day of summer school. He made himself a ham sandwich and was eating it as I fumbled with the phone and baby, and started the laborious process of calling in. As soon as he realized what I was doing, my son immediately indicated that he would be willing to watch the baby while I went to work.
This was a far cry from the 16 year old that has been indifferent to his new baby sister. He was pretty uninterested in the new addition to the family, and in the few weeks after the baby came home, he seemed to wade through some serious depression.
So he watched the baby, and started watching her on a regular basis when I go to work. At first, he was a bit unaffected by the process, but the eventual chore of watching an infant began to frustrate him in the same ways it frustrated Joyce and I.
The day before yesterday he gave Frannie a high five for throwing up on me. Last night, he showed me how she laughs when you blow in her face.
One of the downfalls of how I look at life is that, because I always acknowledge that things are in a state of flux, and that nothing is permanent, and everything changes. But in watching my son interact with his baby sister, it's like I have just been granted a quick view from some kind of future telescope.
I liked what I saw.
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