Remembering...

......that on this night nine years ago my son-in-law and I were supporting my daughter through her first, very long, labour. The baby was premature and the labour wasn't straightforward so the room was often filled with various worried medics. My son-in-law and I kept each other going all through the night, dozing on and off by turns and chatting about inconsequential things as we watched and waited for the baby to be born. His very dry sense of humour often had the midwives in stitches and his banter with my daughter was also very funny at times. We shared the long night together and as we did our relationship developed a new dimension.

Their baby boy, my lovely grandson, was finally born (on the following day) and rushed off to the Special Care Baby Unit where he made wonderful progress and was eventually discharged a few weeks before my son-in-law was deployed to Afghanistan. Sadly my son-in-law didn't return to see his little boy grow up to become the captain of his school sports teams, or watch him take the solo spot in the school choir at Christmas. he will never know that his little boy shares his same dry sense of humour and wavy hair.

Tomorrow, I will celebrate my grandson's 9th birthday and enjoy the day, but tonight I'm shedding a tear for his daddy and all that he has missed.