OLD NEWS:
We got a call from home while here in Rome. It was 10:30 AM Rome time, 4:30 AM Michigan time. My daughter Cindy was going into delivery for a C-section to give birth to her 4th child and our 7th grandchild. She wanted to be surprised about the sex of the baby so she would not let the doctor inform her ahead of time. We are all excited–will it be Gemma or Sebastian? She now has two boys and one girl.
NEWS UPDATE:
We were in St. Paul Outside the Walls Catholic Church in Rome praying at St. Paul’s Tomb when our cell phone rang. It was Cindy from the Toledo hospital. She called to tell us she had a boy so — it was Sebatian Thomas (after St. Thomas More), not Gemma. He was 5.6 pounds and very healthy; so is his mother. They are coming home Saturday.
LATEST NEWS:
It is Sunday now and they are both home and healthy and doing fine. He came home at about 5 lbs. 4 oz. All my girls like them small because they feel like living dolls. Personally, I wait until they get about two years old–when then start getting fun to play with!
WHY WAS HE NAMED ST. SEBASTIAN?
St. Sebastian was a Christian AND a Roman soldier. When his Christian faith was discovered he was killed. He was shot with arrows and finally finished off with a club. He died on January 20, 287 AD. His remains are in the Catacombs of St. Sebastian along the Via Appia Antica outside Rome. For more info on St. Sebastian, click here for the Wikipedia article and here for the www.EarlyChurch.org article.
Grandma (my good wife Janet) is pretty happy and my daughter Cindy sure looks pretty happy and good too, after just giving birth. I know now that it is not the men who are tough; it is these good woman who bring new life into the world at such great personal expense and pain.
