Because of the unique position in which I was standing and because of the unique position in which he chose to enter this world, I was the first human to lay eyes upon my grandson, Maxwell Morgan Crabb. It is a moment which I will cherish forever.
The nurses at the hospital made fun of me because I was wishing that Max would be born before midnight so that he could have the mathematical anomaly of a birthday that was an equation: 5-7-12. But it was not to be. Max was born on 5-8-12. The nurses; however, were the first to console me when Max arrived on the scene at 4:37 am.
Everyones initial shock was that Max was a redhead. It was apparent as soon as they cleaned him up. We were not expecting that, even though redheads run in my family. I had given up on redheads when both of my boys were born blond. I was immediately delighted.
I was lucky enough to share Max's first week of life with him, even if I haven't been as close in the aftermath. The biggest hurdle in my decision to move away was how in the world I would cope living so far away from my beautiful grandson. However, I knew that the sooner I did it, the better; before we had a chance to really bond. It has only been in the last couple of months that Max has called me by name during video chats, and when I visited recently he expressed sadness at my leaving. He is growing up knowing a long distance grandmother; it would have been much tougher if I'd left when he was the age he is now... 3 years old.
Because of the difficult circumstances, I've not ever been able to attend any of Max's birthday parties, but I'm always keenly aware of his birthday and I relive the moment of his entry into our lives. Since his arrival, none of our lives have ever been the same
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