It turned into a very eventful 24 hours as I had a kind of 'retreat' in the car since I had many hours of driving, I attended a funeral celebrating Gary Hoffman's life here on earth that has ended, and I was able to be in Madison to help out my brother and his wife for the birth of their daughter Ruby Gail. Being able to see Ruby Gail was an unexpected blessing and there is no doubt in my mind that the Lord orchestrated it in just that way!
We arrived in Madison around 9pm and went to bed fairly quickly. Aaron noted that they would have a February baby since the baby probably wasn't going to come in the next few hours (it was due January 27th). Jude was screaming his head off so I didn't fall asleep until midnight. Very soon I woke up to a big thud and thought that Faustina had fallen out of bed until I realized I was at Aaron's place. Well, actually, Leo had fallen out of bed (he sleeps in a big kid bed and never had done that before); at the same time, Amy's water happened to break! Aaron came down and asked me to take care of Leo in the morning while they were at the hospital.
I did take care of Leo and he was very cute. He was thrilled that his baby sister was on the way and couldn't stop jumping up and down. I got him off to daycare and made my drive to Milwaukee. I said a rosary for Amy thinking she probably was in labor and my rosary ended right when I arrived at the Church at 10:07am. It turns out that Ruby was born at 10:01, right when the funeral started. It was good to see Meg and be at the funeral.
On the way home, I had the radio on and the Beatle's song "You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello". Again, the cycle of life struck me as at the same time I was celebrating both a birth and also mourning Gary Hoffman's death at the early age of 65. It was one of those moments when the Lord was very close and there was an abundant amount of grace to just 'BE'with the Lord and be wrapped in his joy and his peace. I was listening to Christian talks on CD and one thing a man said was pagan see life as "Birth, life, death", Christians see reality as "Life, death, rebirth". It is true, as Christians, death is the beginning of new life - and that is exciting. That is something to celebrate.
I was able to visit Aaron, Amy, and little Ruby in the hospital and spend about an hour with them eating and enjoying my new little niece. She was 8 lbs 6 oz, 19 1/2 inches long. Ruby was my own Grandma Lee's name (my father's Mom). She really is a cutie and we can't wait to see her grow and her personality unfold.
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