GRAND Magazine - September/October 2011 - (Page 26)
new grandparents
On becoming
GRAND
There are no words to
describe the “bigness”
of this baby’s arrival
BY LORI BITTER
I
was raised by my grandparents,
without role models for
what a mom and dad should
be. I was a young mom—one
daughter at 21 and the second
at 26. We raised our two girls
far away from their grandparents.
We had amazing visits
and vacations with them, but
day-to-day our little family has
always been our own tight unit.
I ponder the nature of
families much more since my
daughter Ashley gave birth to
my first grandchild, Gabriel
McClain, on June 30. I struggle
to find words for the “bigness”
of my emotions surrounding his
arrival. He is perfection.
I tried not to study up for his
arrival. I tend to overprepare
26 GRAND SEPT OCT 2011
Gabriel McClain
for just about everything, but
I forced myself to stay in the
moment and just enjoy the days
leading up to Gabriel’s appearance.
Except for his nursery—I
love interior design. Ashley and
Patrick asked me for help, and I
jumped in with an energy some
have described as maniacal.
Gabriel has a “music themed”
room. At 11:30 the night before
Mother’s Day, we slipped into
Ash and Paddy’s home and
installed our work just in time
for Ashley to wake up.
The ten months before his
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - September/October 2011