During the week my nephew and his wife welcomed their first child into the world!  For months, like all parents, they had looked forward to this moment and it arrived in the early hours of September 12th.  My brother sent me a text just after 3am and though I enjoy my sleep, I was happy to be awoken by the little beeping notification sound.

I was in Gurteen yesterday for a  Wedding Ceremony and afterwards went to Cloonloo Church and Templeronan Cemetery for a quick visit.  I got word that my nephew, his wife and their daughter were on their way home from the hospital so I waited for them to arrive.

It was a quiet homecoming, though my sister-in-law had brought some balloons and decorations to the house to mark the occasion and welcome the little one to her new home.

“Would you like to hold her?” I was asked and the answer was yes.  I held her for a little while and hoped that, in time, she’d come to know me as someone who will love her and care for her as best I can.  She won’t, thank God, be short of love.

As I was leaving, I looked at her in the little buggy and looked at her hands as they rested on the blanket.  So small but so, so perfect.  I took her hand in mine and then decided to take a photo.

I liked the photo when I saw it and felt it had a corner here.  Maybe someday she might see it and know that I took her hand in mine the day she came home and, in the taking, commit with all my family to minding her and leading her, as best we can, along the road and future that awaits her.

Earlier I had placed my hand on the top of a young couple’s joined hands during the Wedding Mass in Gurteen.  Their joined hands and the future they hoped for were blessed too.

There’s something about openness to give and take the hand and something about blessing.

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Vincent

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