A Gift to Cherish

 

One of my favorite pictures is that of my niece Jeridee around the age of three, sitting on a child-size easy chair.  She is wearing a red and white checkered shirt and denim overalls.  Her long brown hair is in two braids tied with red ribbons.  She has a huge smile on her face.  Every time I come across that picture, my heart melts all over again and I can't help smiling
back at the little girl in the picture.  Needless to say, she had me wrapped around her little finger from the day she was born and I held her in the hospital.  Jeridee and I share that special bond that aunts and nieces have.  Where have the years gone? 

This week, I was emailed a picture that has melted my heart once again – that of Jeridee’s little girl, who was born two weeks ago.  This little girl is dressed in pink, laying on a pink ruffled quilt with a pink head band on her little bald head.  I can’t believe that little girl with the braids in the picture is now a mother herself.  Time certainly does march on and life continues to move forward (sometimes too quickly).  

So it is that our family received the precious gift of another baby girl. Jeridee and her husband became the proud parents of Maelle Calixte.  This is their first child and it was not an easy journey into parenthood for them.  The end result, however, was worth the months of disappointment, frustration and sadness.  This little girl is perfect.

When Jeridee and her husband picked out the middle for their new daughter, they chose it because they liked it and it went so well with her first name, and because  both names are very French which appealed to the couple.  In one of life’s funny little quirks,  Jeridee was not aware that Calixte was the first name of her great-grandfather!  She was surprised when her mother told her this.  So, although it was not intended, little Maelle carries the name of her great-great grand-father and that shared name is now a connection between generations, a reminder of where we come from and who our ancestors are.  When she is old enough and sees pictures and hears stories of this ancestor who has the same name as her, she will feel the bond of family – even though that family member came and went many years before she was born.  We, the rest of her family, now have a reason to hang on to our memories of him, the pictures we have and the stories we know because suddenly it is important for her to know and we feel the responsibility of sharing this with her.  I never realized before this how a name can connect generations and encourage families to keep the memories alive of those no longer with us.  My sister ( Jeridee’s mother) and I have many memories of our grandfather which we will share with Maelle. 

As we welcome Maelle, this treasured gift, into our family and look forward to her future, we also look back into the past and acknowledge those who walked the path before us.  A new child in our family, a new reason to reflect on our ancestors . . .  it’s a good thing.