Welcome to the World, Little One

Pelagie

The ringing phone woke me very early in the morning...or so I thought as I struggled to climb from sleep's comfortable bed into a state of wakefulness.
"Hello," the accented voice came, "This is Emmanuel's brother-in-law calling." What time could it be, I wondered, since it was still clearly very dark...not a sliver of light coming through the slits in the bedroom shutters. "I am calling to tell you proudly that Emmanuel's sister has given birth to a  son." And then came Japheth's hearty laugh.
Now fully awake, I laughed with him. "And Pelagie- she is fine?" I asked. "And the baby? He is healthy?"

"Yes, yes," he assured me. "Everyone is fine and my wife sends her regards and much love."

"Please give her mine and my congratulations to your entire family. I am so happy that all has gone well."

"Good. Good," said a still-rejoicing Japheth. "We wanted you to know, since you are part of our family. Good-by for now."

"Good-by. Good-by. I am so very happy for you."

As the line went dead, I realized I had not asked the new baby's name...and I knew nothing about his birth: hospital or midwife at home. But I returned to bed, cradled in the joy of a new life begun, a family enlarged and enriched. Even the awareness of the additional burden this child would place on this dear group of people could not dampen the incredible pride and joy which reached across the world from Rwanda to North Carolina in the voice of a new father.

Yawning widely, I noticed that the clock read 1:30a.m...7:30a.m. in Rwanda. The baby's birthday is August 24th, 2011. Happy birthday, little one. Welcome to the World.