Visit with great-niece takes her back in time

I engaged in a bit of time travel last week. We had been invited to meet our great-niece on her one-month birthday. My sister-in-law, Sue, was visiting her first grandchild. She had invited us to have lunch with her, the baby’s mother, Margaret, and most importantly, the new baby, Isabella. We were told we could only come if we promised not to call the baby Izzy. Reluctantly, we agreed.
After a three-hour journey we pulled into the driveway. Sue answered the door and promptly slammed it in our faces. A minute later she was back. It seems the dog, Smuckers, was determined to escape and had to be relocated behind a baby gate.
Once inside, Smuckers checked us out thoroughly. Only after we passed his inspection were we allowed to greet our niece and her infant.
Margaret looked beautiful, as always. Isabella was curled up in Margaret’s arms, wearing an outfit I had mailed previously. After a bit of small talk, Margaret asked if I would like to hold the baby. Of course I would. Did she honestly think we had driven all that way to not hold the baby?
Isabella snuggled against me. I stroked her impossibly soft hair. I touched her pudgy cheeks. Her tiny hand curled around my fingers. I was transported back in time to when my own daughter was new. It was the same feeling of overwhelming love, the same feeling of a new life trusting me not to drop her, the same feeling of holding infinite possibility in my hands.
The conversation swirled around me but all I heard was Isabella’s silent breathing. All I saw were her bright eyes looking back at me.
Time shifted and I was holding my granddaughter for the first time. Isabella closed her eyes and went to sleep. It seemed like yesterday that my granddaughter was this small and yet she turned nine on her last birthday.
Another time shift. I am holding my grandson and wondering how I can love a little boy every bit as much as I love his sister and his mother. I put Isabella over my shoulder and patted her back.
I bury my face in her neck and smell her sweet baby perfume. In my mind I am on a swing, holding my youngest grandson. I am singing softly in his ear as we swing to and fro. Isabella starts to fuss and I hand her back to Margaret.
I wonder how time can play such tricks as Margaret takes the baby into the other room for a snack and a dry diaper. It was only yesterday that my daughter was new. Now she has children of her own. It was only yesterday that Margaret was tiny. She, too, is a mother now.
Time is not as linear as we were taught. It expands and contracts. A minute can seem like forever and a lifetime disappears in a flash. I know Margaret and her entire family will cherish every minute they have with Isabella.
Well, maybe not every minute. Sue tells us that both of Isabella’s parents were shocked at how horrible a dirty diaper can smell and what a mess it can be to clean up. But that is a small price to pay for the privilege of loving the new life they have created.
We passed the baby around and she snuggled with all of us as we caught up on what was happening with various members of the family. Too soon, it was time to leave. We bid our goodbyes. Our arms ached to hold Isabella one more time.
On the long ride home I wondered how such a tiny little girl can elicit such precious memories and transport me back in time to when my own loved ones were new.
A couple of days later I answered the phone. On the other end I heard I small voice singing, “Happy birthday to you. You look like a monkey . . .” I was firmly back in the present. All three of my grandchildren were their own joyfully irreverent selves. Meanwhile, baby Isabella was enjoying the quiet protection of a dog named Smuckers in a city far away.