Firsts

2nd June 2011 Thursday

A momentous day - he has arrived - our great nephew. The text with the news finally comes at 12.27 but I don’t get it till 2 pm while we are sitting outside under the sun umbrella after our sweet potato salad lunch. He’s 7lb 12oz - mother and baby safe and well. Tonight they send us a photo of him sleeping with his perfect minature fingers curled on a white blanket, a soft gingery down on his head. Not even a day old but it’s as if he has always been here - the first of the next generation - breathtaking in his beauty.

My father is so happy when I tell him this afternoon - I can see the tears in his eyes - a great grandson carrying his name into the future.

Some more firsts - the first really hot day of summer. I eat the first ripe strawberry at the allotment. I pick the first broad beans. For the first time we play scrabble outside on the patio after supper the air still warm at 9 pm. But not the first time my husband wins the game - even if he doesn’t know the meaning of some of the words he lays down.