#6 Life is Precious

I wasn't sure if I would post this, because in no way do I want to exploit anyone's pain or grief for my own posting. For that reason, no names will be used. I have  been very pensive the past few days. Thinking of what, you may ask. None other than babies. 

I cannot take one moment in life for granted. Like Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it." I have seen a huge span of life in the past 3 months, through 4 babies. 

My niece was born at the beginning of December, and a week ago Sunday, she was baptized. I have had the joy of watching her grow and change, ever so slightly, through the pictures my brother and sister-in-law post, and in the few visits I've been able to squeak in. She takes my breath away. She has started smiling recently. 

Last week, a friend of mine had a baby girl. The baby is now the youngest of four, with one boy and two other girls. The baby is currently in the NICU for lung development, as she was a couple weeks early. My friend has had 4 babies. The first, the boy, was two months premature, due to pre-eclampsia. Seeing what a baby can come through being so small, dependent, and new, I am constantly amazed by the capacity of the human body. 

This past weekend in Boston, a friend of a friend was in a car accident, along with her mother, and they both died. Their car spun out of control and hit a snow plow early Sunday morning, before the big storm even hit. The girl was 25 and five months pregnant. There was a baby, who had not yet taken a breath of air, and it's life was taken away. It wasn't any one's fault, just a sad occurrence of hitting a patch of black ice on a tough road. It could have happened to anyone.

Life is fragile.  

I was working at my desk today and a coworker friend of mine came in. We hadn't really had a good talk in a while, but she sat down for about 15 minutes and we caught up. She is due to have a baby girl in three weeks. She told me about her pregnancy, how excited she is, and how she is taking three months for her maternity leave. She has a little boy, about three years old, and she always wished she had enjoyed her maternity leave with him, because it goes so fast. She wants to soak it all in. She said with a smile that this baby will be their last, so they are going to enjoy every moment. 

I don't mean to be sad or morbid or sentimental. I've just been thinking about how we only really have the present moment to enjoy our lives. I think of this often, but with all these babies, it becomes clearer and clearer how much I need to walk the walk. 

To leave you on a happy note...I love being an auntie.