Sometimes life is so intense its hard to take everything in. The last 12 hours has been one of those times. It began with a 40 year reunion. Six of us who graduated in 1972 with a BSc in geology from Kings College London University met up in Cheltenham. I hadn't seen three of them since the day we parted 40 years ago. It's a cliché I know but the way we talked and behaved was as if it was yesterday and we all said that while our bodies had grown older, and we had all experienced rich and eventful lives, we were inside basically the same person. We talked into the wee hours of the next morning and swapped stories of our student days, shared our photos of student days, and talked about our lives and our families. We shared our knowledge of our peers who couldn't join us. We empathised with each other's trials and tribulations and it felt like a very human thing to do. And then it was all over far too quickly but we had renewed our bonds and I like to think we are more likely now, thanks to the technology we now have, to stay in touch.
I only had a few hours sleep that night and I woke before 6 to a beautiful sunny morning. Then my wife called me with some 'stunning news.' In the night my daughter had given birth (9 weeks early) to twin boys. Immediately after breakfast I drove to the hospital and got there at 11am. I've always thought that long drives are a particular space and place in which reflection happens and there have been many times in my life where I have had significant emotional experiences while driving. Today was one of them with the thoughts of the evening before jostling with the momentus events of the birth of the twins and my concern for my daughter, our 5 year old granddson and her husband. My daughter had said in her text that everything was fine but I knew she was trying to reassure me. I can't imagine what she was feeling like. It was great to see her and hug her and see that she was fine and after an emotional half hour of telling me the detail of the nights events (it was all very dramatic) she took me into the special care unit to see her babies in the incubators. I've seen these units on TV but it is nothing like experiencing it. It is a very special place full of high tech gear, medical staff who are checking and administering to the babies and happy but anxious parents and families looking on to their tiny babies. It was simply awesome seeing my new grandchildren for the first time and learning their names.. As she lifted the cover and I peered into the incubator I saw each in turn - they are tiny but beautiful and perfectly formed - 1.33 and 1.48kg.. I can honestly say I don't think I have ever felt like I did. The mixture of feelings - wonderment, joy, empathy, pride, the past (thinking of my daughter's birth -she was also premature and her mother who is no longer with us) -the cacophony of emotions, memories and the sights, sounds and other senses of the space and the moment are quite indescribable.
There was a lot more to this day but I'm going to finish it here because it was like no other day of my life - I'm very happy
There was a lot more to this day but I'm going to finish it here because it was like no other day of my life - I'm very happy
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