Over the past few years a lot of people have died. People I knew well, people I wanted to know, people I had known my entire life and hardly begun to start a relationship with, people I was friends with at school, people I worked with, people I grew up with, people I never met whose death shaped my dear friends. These days I find it difficult to live outside of the moments of sadness that overcome me when I remember anything, a single thought goes to something of one of them and I’m all of a sudden so sad. Or an anniversary or a birthday will come around and I will have the deep blue-black shades drawn over the windows of my heart, while outside I try to smile. It can be so difficult to enjoy life, to see what is good and joyful and wonderful, when all I can feel is the sadness of missed opportunities and disappointment at my own failure at being able to stop these tragedies.

And then… Then something, or someone, comes along and reminds me that there is so much more coming. He makes me raise the shades and see the sunshine.

My very best friend in the entire world squeezed and pushed (and ultimately lay on a table and had removed from her) a beautiful baby boy. I had the joy of being able to be at the hospital, and getting to take some pictures of him. He didn’t like the little beeping and light on the camera.

Look at him, he looks so wise and grumpy! Babies really do look like old men at times. Born 4:41pm, at over 9lbs and something like 20.25 inches long, Brady was welcomed with much love.

Even Maxwell wanted to meet him, which was super adorable.

And my dad got to have some Brady-bonding time. Super cute!