Can We Talk 2

Joy Out of Sorrow

         There's a new baby in the family. My middle brother just had his 6th grandchild, a boy. The boy is named for my father and his daddy's uncle, Ernest. My dad is a junior, and my late brother was the III. Jack was also my oldest brother; Jackson was the middle name. Another great grandson also has the middle name Jackson from my dad and his great grandfather on the other side of his family. This baby's first name is Jackson. So it's safe to say it's now a family name. They plan on calling him Jack, like my brother, who taught our niece to drive.

         As happy as we all are to have this perfect, healthy baby with long fingers and toes, we can't help but remember his daddy who died six months earlier at age 35. it's a sorrowful time for my niece and her in-laws. It's a sorrowful time for all of us, because Billy was special, and had been a part of our family a very long time. So our hearts are breaking all over again, while at the same time celebrating.

         Can we ever fully appreciate the joy in our lives unless we have experienced great sadness? Can one exist without the other? Are they always intermingled? We'll take our mixed blessings. We'll hold this child and sing to him and tell him stories about the daddy he'll never know. We'll tell him his nickname is the same as the great uncle he never met. But he is prized and treasured.