Anxious to see the new grandbaby

To answer your question, yes, we’ve bought our tickets.
The phone call came just before noon Thursday.
I happened to be passing the front counter at the time. Others were busy waiting on customers at the time, so when the phone rang I answered it to help out.
It was Emily. “Dad,” she said. “I’m in labor.”
Okay, now a million thoughts go through a father’s head at that point, but one of the first ones was the calendar.
The baby — our first grandchild — was expected to arrive the first of October. Not the first of September. Certainly not before Labor Day.
But when the baby’s ready, the baby’s ready. Emily’s water had already broken, and she and her husband Mike were already at the hospital.
Then the waiting began. All afternoon we kept waiting for a phone call. All evening we jumped whenever the phone rang. But there was no news. Our grandson was taking his time making an appearance.
Sleep came fitfully that night, but finally — just minutes after 4 a.m. — Emily called.
Julian Charles Veloso had arrived healthy, though a little grumpy and tired from all the effort of being born. For the record, he weighed in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 and a half inches long. Julian comes from Mike’s mother’s maiden name, Julianos. Charles was Connie’s father’s name. So, family connections on both sides.
Friday we both grinned so much our faces hurt.
And then the question came: Have you booked tickets yet?
And I stumbled on the answer. The plan had always been for Connie to go out for a week to see the baby and give the new mom and dad a break by helping with things like cooking and laundry. But there had been no equivalent plan for me, and the distance involved complicated things.
People were stunned.
Maybe things have changed, but when our twins were born in July, Connie’s parents didn’t get their first glimpse of them until September. They were up in New Hampshire when the babies arrived and stopped for a good visit when they headed back to Illinois in the fall. The same pattern held true when our youngest was born.
When your family is spread out all over the map, getting together isn’t always a simple matter.
But by Friday night a plan was taking shape. By Saturday morning, we were running it by Emily and Mike, coordinating with his parents and trying to maximize grand-baby time without driving the new parents nuts. With the plan approved at their end, we set about booking tickets.
Connie left this morning. I’ll head out in about a week. She’ll sleep on a futon in Mike and Emily’s small apartment, then move to a hotel room when I arrive.
Meanwhile, congratulatory e-mails started flowing in after I spread the news of Julian’s arrival. And with the congratulations came advice and words of wisdom.
A great friend wrote, “Nothing is better than being a grandparent, nothing worse than being a grandparent far away! Get there as fast as you can!”
She’s right, and she should know. She’s in California, and her grandchildren are in Texas.
So, to answer the question again: Yes, we’ve bought our tickets.[[In-content Ad]]