Well.

Two things in life that have absolutely NO respect for one’s schedule are babies and the weather.

And this weekend, I got swept up in both. It’s been a very long time since we’ve had a good dumping of snow in the Hamilton area. I remember as a kid building forts and trails and toboggan runs from November through to April, save for the week of my birthday at the end of January when everything would thaw and all my winter birthday party sleigh ride plans went out the window… My kids have no idea what real snow is.

Until this weekend. We got about 16″ on Saturday. Not the worst I’ve ever seen. (Yes, I’m old enough to remember the blizzard of ’77.) But certainly respectable by all Canadian standards.

Of course, at 11:30am on Saturday, my daughter sends me THE text.

“NOW”

Oh no, not now. Have you looked out the window???

Yes, now. In fact, so ‘now,’ that by the time I dug out and drove as fast as I dared and met them at the hospital about 1:00, I barely had time to get settled before meeting my first grandchild at 3:15!

Things get a little misty after that.

Suffice it to say, it’s been a crazy weekend of shovelling and snivelling. Hand holding and hand warming. Tears of joy and tears of ice.

It was supposed to be a writing weekend. Snowed in, stocked up, and hunkered down.

Instead, it was a weekend full of creating the memories that fuel the writing. Seeing a brand new person arrive into this world. Feeling more hope than I’d expected to. Watching my daughter become a mom with a strength and determination that was both fierce and formidable, but not at all surprising. Becoming a grandmother myself, though I’m still deciding on a name for me – I haven’t found anything that feels a good fit. At the rate I’m going, Baby Laylah will beat me to it.

So while I managed to record countless minutes of video this week, none of it is the online kind of stuff. It’s all the intimate and personal moments that make up a family. The secrets and stories we keep to ourselves, the inside info that connects us on a level that lasts through generations. The experiences that give our lives meaning.

Not everything has to be shared with everyone.

Next week is soon enough to get back on track. Thanks for listening. We’ll talk soon.

Alex.