Memories are made in many ways

Daejeong, le 4 mars 2021

I’ve had the same I-Pad for several years. I use it only for a few things. I read my favorite newspaper on it every day. I also use it to download books but mostly I use it as a camera. I take many, many pictures.

Ten or so days ago, my eldest daughter, Jaya, mother of two young teenagers, Rébéka and Alec, told me she was gathering pictures to start photo albums for these kids. She knows I have pictures so she asked if I could send any.

I started last night to go through the oldest pictures on my I-Pad. Memories started to appear in my mind pretty much immediately and the feelings to go with them. Those teenagers are great. They are so beautiful and smart and they make me so proud. But how did they get to be so tall? Seems like just a little while ago they were so little.

We were having a quiet supper at home on a week night when my phone rang. Marvin, Jaya’s partner was on the other end. He had never called me before. Even though she was a few weeks early, she was in labor and this first grand-child was coming pretty much now. Stephanie and I hopped in the car and drove almost an hour to the hospital in suburb Montréal. We had never been to that hospital so it took some time to find exactly where it was. Then, we had to find our way to the birthing center, within.

When we finally got to the ward, it seemed deserted. No one to be seen, no sounds. We started to walk around and got to what looked liked the nurses quarters. No one there. It was a little mysterious. Stephanie spotted a transparent bag on the counter. She said “That looks like a placenta”. It was. On that bag there was a sticker with my daughter’s name on it. The baby was born. The inside of my hands became all moist. I had to see that baby. I had to see my daughter. Within a minute we were all together.

On March 26, 2007, Rébéka was born. On March 26, 2007, I became a grand-father. Greatest feeling ever!

What felt weird though was that my little girl was a mom.

Looking at pictures brings back so many memories… and moist hands…

6 thoughts on “Memories are made in many ways”

  1. I love how the call for photos spurred that “moist hands” moment memory. I too remember that moment…as she was placed in my hands…I became lightheaded with emotion and sat down to cradle the miracle in my midst as my daughter, sore and exhausted watched….she could never have guessed the “moist hand” moment,,,,thanks for the memories

  2. Beautiful story! I can only imagine the excitement of meeting Rébéka for the first time but you do a great job describing it!

  3. How wonderful that the search for pictures led to this memory and to this slice. What a wonderful moment to hold onto, Alain!

  4. What an amazing moment! I was a nanny for 8 years and the oldest of those children just became a dad. It felt like I was becoming a grandparent! Or at least an auntie. I get so excited when they send me photos of the baby. 🙂 It’s a great feeling.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *