A PRAYER FOR OLIVIA AND CHARLIE

The beauty of technology, or the difficulty with it, is that we bond. We get to know our babies quite early. We even know we're pregnant before we've missed our periods. Used to be you had to miss a period by a couple of weeks at least before you could even GUESS that you MIGHT be pregnant. Now, you can know virtually at conception...almost. So how excited were we when we discovered Olivia and Charlie were due to arrive in January 2009!!! Oh, the joy!!! And then the ultrasounds. Magnificent views of feet and bones and hearts and brains that were forming. And then the little faces...the amazing little faces...and the amazing and jaw-dropping profiles. She has her mother's delicate, beauty and he truly appears to have his father's strong bones and facial features. Breath-taking...

Olivia appears to be a tad calmer than her brother and Charlie has a habit of dancing on his sister's head. They play with their parents. The babies respond to their Mother's loving presses by rolling or kicking back but when Dad speaks to them with his lower register, they seem to settle down...this is per phone conversations from a proud daddy who can't hide the smile in his voice, I might add...

I wish you knew the family they were coming to. I wish you knew the love that would embrace them. The hugs they would receive daily. This is the family one wishes each child would have. This family is the birth-right of every child that is born on earth. Unconditional love. And lots of it.

Their mom is in the hospital. We've had a scare. The twins want to come to that family a little too soon. Too soon for comfort. We can now add "impatience" to the list of attributes we know about Charlie and Olivia. So, in addition to be united in love and laughter, we're now united in prayer. Our big, extended family is united in prayer for these babies and their mother...and their worried daddy. There are some of you reading this that don't personally know us. Your prayers are welcomed and cherished as well. We take all prayers. We are an inclusive lot. So please, send up a prayer for Olivia and Charlie. They are the future. And we want our future to be filled with people full of love and tolerance and faith, don't we? I've enclosed the lyrics to "Angeles" by Enya. I've been listening to it while I've been fasting and praying. Thank you. God Bless the babies.

Angels, answer me
Are you near if rain should fall?
Am I to believe
You will rise to calm the storm?
For so great a treasure, words will never do
Surely, if this is, promises are mine to give you.
mine to give...
Here! All too soon the day!
Wish the moon to fall and alter tomorrow.
I should know
Heaven has her way.
-each one given memories to own.
Angeles, all could be
Should you move both earth and sea.
Angeles I could feel
All those dark clouds disappearing...
Even as I breathe
Comes an angel to their keep.
Surely if this is
Promises are mine to give you.
Mine to give...