Photo by Moses Pendleton
It has been a very busy couple of weeks and that’s why I haven’t been able to post as much as I’d like. I really have always been a skeptic about astrology but I can’t even begin to tell you all the things that have gone wrong electronically since my last posting. Thank you for the nice comments and emails regarding all the retrogradation of my stuff. I really am trying to be funny about my “problems”, none of them are serious. I have friends with a sick baby in a NICU who, thank goodness, is doing much better, but I really can’t complain about the little glitches with my computer, phone, TV, cable, internet, printer, etc. Yes, all those things have acted up this past week, but again, they are things. My friends with the baby in the NICU are the nicest people, going through their hard time. We all have hard times, but it’s most painful to watch when it happens to such nice people.
So here’s a poem for baby William. I’m sure I’ve posted it before, it’s one of my favorites:
YOU BEGIN, by Margaret Atwood
You begin this way:
this is your hand,
this is your eye,
that is a fish, blue and flat
on the paper, almost
the shape of an eye.
This is your mouth, this is an O
or a moon, whichever
you like. This is yellow.
Outside the window
is the rain, green
because it is summer, and beyond that
the trees and then the world,
which is round and has only
the colors of these nine crayons.
This is the world, which is fuller
and more difficult to learn than I have said.
You are right to smudge it that way
with the red and then
the orange: the world burns.
Once you have learned these words
you will learn that there are more
words than you can ever learn.
The word hand floats above your hand
like a small cloud over a lake.
The word hand anchors
your hand to this table,
your hand is a warm stone
I hold between two words.
This is your hand, these are my hands, this is the world,
which is round but not flat and has more colors
than we can see.
It begins, it has an end,
this is what you will
come back to, this is your hand.
It’s a beautiful poem, Ann. My heart goes out to your friends.
Best wishes to your friends and Baby William. A NICU is an amazing place and offers so much hope for babies who need extra attention (and special technology) to overcome prematurity and other issues. Please give us an update in the coming days-good luck to Baby William.
The poem is so beautiful. “This is what you will / come back to, this is your hand.” Oh, I really love that. Gorgeous photo, too. It so perfectly goes with “You are right to smudge it that way / with the red and then / the orange: the world burns.”
God bless little baby William and his parents. How scary such a time must be — but yes, a NICU and the people in it are amazing. How wonderful that he is doing much better. May he grow up healthy, happy, and strong.
What a hard thing to go through
all the best for Baby William and his family x
Thinking good thoughts for William. Beautiful poem.
My best friend had twins born prematurely in February. They weighed 1 lb 1 oz and 2 lbs. 3oz. My cousin also gave birth to a little girl prematurely in January and the baby only weighed 1 lb. 6 oz. All these babies are now home and doing beautifully!!!! Their parents had a very difficult and scary time those first few months because so many things went wrong. But now they are all happy and healthy!
Baby William is getting the best care. I wish your friends and their baby didn’t have to go through this. But I am so glad William is doing better!
ann, i’m sure your friendship is helping them so much since you understand what they’re going through. please let us know how the little man is progressing.
Ann, I agree with what Lisa wrote.Please keep us posted on Baby William. I, like Lisa, hope his parents take comfort in your experience. When I look at any family pics you post, I find it hard to believe that your Jack was ever a tiny preemie!(And, ummm, I am one of those praying people, so Baby William will be in my prayers….) My best to the little guy and his parents.
Ann, as Lisa said, I’m sure you can offer unique comfort to your friends. My thoughts are with them and Baby William. May he grow up to be as strong and happy as Jack.
Almost 20 years ago my cousin was telling me about the “stressed” babies she cared for as a nurse in an NICU in Slovakia. Most were born weighing not more than 1 pound. She said most went home, but that it was an amazing place. And that was then.
What a beautiful poem. I have read many of M. Atwood’s books but am not familiar with her poems. Sending good thoughts to baby William at the NICU.
Beautiful poem. I’m praying for Baby William and his parents too. God bless them all.
Saying a prayer for Baby William.
Strong mojo going out to baby Will. Ann, does this make you think back to what you went through with Jack?
I can tell you William is doing much better today. He is off the vent, and Mommy got to hold him for the first time! Ann as always thanks for your support and day of distraction for the girls they enjoyed it!!
Aaron
Hey there, William’s Dad, welcome! And thanks for the good news! As you’ve no doubt noted, the blog-mates here on Ann’s blog are quite a loving and supportive community, especially when the Road of Life gets a little bumpy.
The whole town here and communities far away send their love and support. We all rejoice at William’s improvement!
Thank you for the update, Aaron! Please keep us posted on that precious little William.
Prayers for William and his family.
It is wonderful that they have you and your experience to help them through this time.
Sending love from Texas…..
As William’s dad said, he has made GREAT progress today, breathing on his own, his parents finally able to hold their little boy. Thanks for all the comments and prayers guys!
I’m reading this late, but will be sending prayers to William and family…..so happy to hear the good news!
Thanks for the update, William’s dad!That is wonderful news! Continuing to send you and yours all the very best!!!
I don’t know if Mercury retrograde has anything to do with it, though it is computer/technology/internet/phone related. Far from being a glitch, however, the it to which I’m referring is my own current concern for a child I love. Our god daughter, who just turned turned 12, was targeted by a child predator. She thinks she’s “in love,” that this “boy” is her best friend & the “only person in the whole world who understands” her. She does not yet believe the truth, the fact of a grown man pretending to be a boy who cares for her. The world is burning her fiercely right now: endless interviews w/law enforcement, fury at the very people striving to protect her, desperation to hold onto a “relationship” built w/lie-infested Jenga blocks. I want to take those crayons & color the scorched, suffocating parts of her picture with cool greens & comforting blues.
Thanks for posting the just-right poem to help me today, Ann. And I’ll be thinking lovely progress-inspiring wishes for baby William. These are my hands, applauding his breath & health.
Oh, Denise,I hope your family’s ordeal will end soon without major scarring from the experience. Critical care comes in a variety of guises at all ages and requires the support of loved ones, doesn’t it?
Your own poetic soul must be badly scorched.
Oh that’s so hard Denise, but if the person is an adult, can’t you alert the police? Hope it all sorts itself out. That’s such a hard age.
Yes, the police are involved. DA will decide whether to launch further investigation. Tracking down tech-savvy perverts is apparently complicated & expensive. If there is only one complaining witness it’s “not a viable use of resources.” Thing is, no one can ascertain just how many children have been or will be connected to this man because online identities are changed easily & frequently. This kind of offense is even more underreported than rape or domestic assault, so just try to imagine those numbers. This is an epidemic – but like other shame-inducing crimes where the victim is often blamed – we won’t realize the magnitude until far too many young lives have been ravaged.
Ana is here with us for a while. Luke is using his service dog superpowers. You should see the way he follows at her heels, leans against her, sighs, looks up to check her face. He keeps watching me to make sure I’m watching her. He’s probably helping & healing more than any of us humans, and he does it without words or hands.
Oh this is so scary! I didn’t understand that he’s an internet perv. I just thought it was somebody in the community that you could get the cops to scare away. Please keep us informed. It actually sounds like a great piece for a magazine, since you have been doing the research anyway. Everybody knows this stuff goes on, but usually we hear about it after there is a victim. I’d be interested in learning about the steps you are taking and the laws that are needed to protect this kind of thing.
Dear Ann, We so miss you but you are exactly at the right place at the right time…..your support and hindsight must be very appreciated. I will pray for baby Will and his parents and of course, look forward to your eventually being back. So glad to read things are turning around.
Ann, thanks for the update on William. Prayers and good thoughts will continue to flow forth.
A bit late to read the posts,,sending prayers for Baby William and his family.
I think that the fact that you have been in their shoes provides some comfort. I am very happy to hear that Baby William is doing better. I will keep him in my prayers. You are such a good friend to share this.
Denise, my heart goes out to you. I pray that they catch this bastard before he can sink his claws into another child.I have a 10 year old daughter, so this is a very scary story to hear about. Give that dog an extra belly rub from me.
I am posting late as well. The recent news about Baby William doing better is heart happy stuff. My godchild was a vulnerable preemie and now he is a 6’2, handsome, broad shouldered ice hockey and lacrosse player off to college. There can be so many very happy endings and I wish those for the baby.