Birth

Aaron called a couple hours ago, startling Mom and I out of sleep. We jumped out of bed, and she answered her phone, and we couldn't help but think something horrible had happened. Quite the opposite. Fake Buck (a.k.a. Justin) had his baby, Dante Aaron! Fake has been a part of our family for years (hence his one-of-a-kind nickname); he lived with us on and off back in the day, he's been Aaron's best friend since they were in grammar school, and he truly is one with our Flesh & Blood. Mom and I called Fake; he sounded tired but extremely happy; Nikki had just been moved to Recovery. Little Dante, Fake said, has been crying his eyes out. Cute little thing! All I can say is: Justin, you're a blessed person, a wonderful part of our family, and I am so glad I have a third younger sibling to pick on forever! (Although I'll never forget the time I played dead, and you and Aaron squirted me with water, and I got SO mad that I chased you around the house....only to trip on one of Mom's antique pieces and cut my foot and start bleeding all over the place! That, my brother, will not be forgotten! Ha!)

Dante, I'm so glad I have you as a nephew:) You ready for this wild, wacky uncle?

I went with the participants of VOA yesterday to the Grotto. Wow. So magical and pure and beautiful. As Ben mentioned in an email, why is it that religion can hold so much love and so much hate at the same time? I mean, I was in pure awe of my surroundings there, even during the day, when not all the candles were lit and the thousands of Christmas lights were sleeping. The large Nativity scene was built back into this huge, lush rock, and an altar of red candles sat to the right of it. The chapels just screamed beauty all around me, and up the elevator, in the gardens, my breath got taken away by statues and paths and trees. I can't wait to go back, so I can visit the St. Francis of Assisi statue. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, but the participants were tired so we headed back to the bus....I look forward to the Grotto's Festival of Lights and to riding that elevator again, taking my time with silence.

Finally, First-Day-of-Kindergarten-don't-leave-me-here-Mom Nathan came out last night. And you know what? It was a birthing, too, of sorts. As I've discussed with several friends, all moments are happening at the same time, and the 29-year-old Nathan is comforting that five-year-old Nathan right now, as I type this. And vice versa. It's nice to have Kindergarten Nathan here, happy and comforted and comforting to others, too. He's cutting out weird shapes from construction paper and making goofy angels for all his friends, for all of you reading this. He is both teacher and student, friend and brother, lover and mother. That's a lot for the first day of kindergarten, but I think he's up for the challenge!

p.s. Happy Birthday, Tara!....Wait, do you and Dante have the same birthday, or did Dante techinically grace us with his presence on the 4th?....Hmm, in any case, Happy Birthday to both of you, you youngsters!