Great-niece is blessed with extended family

“What is that jingling sound?” I wondered. I was half asleep and my brain was still fuzzy. The noise stopped when my husband answered his phone. Listening to his side of the conversation, I soon deduced that there was a new member of the family. Little Isabella Sue Bedilion had made her appearance.
We had been expecting the call from my sister-in-law for the past few weeks. Her youngest daughter had been very pregnant the last time we had seen her. We half expected her to give birth on her grandfather’s birthday, but the day came and went quietly, as did Christmas, New Year’s day and even my granddaughter Emma’s birthday. I’m guessing Isabella didn’t want to share the spotlight.
Her parents, Margaret and Bob, had opted to not know the sex of the baby beforehand. Margaret’s reasoning was that there are too few surprises in the world. So when Isabella made herself known, everybody was surprised. Even those who were expecting a boy were delighted at how perfect she was.
My inbox is overflowing with pictures of a rosy cheeked baby being held by her mom, grandparents and Aunt Razzle Dazzle, as Margaret’s sister, Jane, wants to be called. I wonder if her new dad has had a chance to hold her yet. There are declarations of the overwhelming love a new baby evokes. I think her grandparents are stunned at how much they adore this little girl.
I am not surprised. I remember when each of my grandchildren were born. I didn’t think I could love them any more than I did at that first moment I glimpsed their tiny faces and my heart overflowed with emotion.
But I do. Each time I see them, my love grows. Each story I hear about them, each phone call, each letter, each and every day, the affection I feel deepens.
This is something Isabella’s new family will learn. They only think they adore this child. Every day she will do something new, something unexpected, something precious. Each milestone will endear her to them even more. In their eyes, she will be the most perfect, most precious child ever to walk the earth.
She has been born into a large family of good people. This will not be a child who will have to worry about her next meal. She will not see strife inside her home. She has chosen a set of fun, loving, intelligent and good hearted people as her parents.
She has been blessed with an extensive extended family that stretches across the country. She has relatives in Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Texas and probably a few other states, who all love her and who will help her through life any way they can. My husband and I won’t be part of her everyday experiences, but she is precious to us, just the same.
Even though we are on the fringes of her family, I can once again shop for tiny, frilly, baby girl things. I can put little dresses and teeny socks in the mail. My granddaughter Emma would rather put on a Spiderman costume and climb the walls than put on a fancy dress. Isabella hasn’t reached that stage just yet.
We have a new baby in the family. Our niece has given birth. She has reminded all of us how much love we can feel for a child we have only seen in pictures. We remember the heavy feel of an infant sleeping on our chest. We remember the thrill of a tiny hand grasping our finger. She makes us smile because she is so beautiful, as all babies are. The world is better because Isabella is here.