Great Expectations

HEAR YE!! HEAR YE!!

To all the dear readers of this blog, all those who are related, who are unrelated, to friends, acquaintances, church members, former church members, individual I once smiled at on the subway in Baltimore - let it be known:

I AM GOING TO BE A GRANDMOTHER!!!!!

I have waited so very long to get to type those words that now I feel compelled to type them again. So I will:

I AM GOING TO BE A GRANDMOTHER!!!!!

My cup runneth over; my joy knows no bounds; I am delirious with delight! Do you see the light radiating from my beaming smile all the way down here in central FL?

Joy and John Schreck (our middle daughter and most amazing son-in-law; actually he's our only son-in-law and that's beside the point) will be welcoming their first child into the world on (or around) February 8, 2011. Frank and I are absolutely beside ourselves!

The happy couple have known since Memorial Day but waited until we celebrated Father's Day to tell us. Everything is a production in our family; each event merits a memory being made. So Joy and John were very clever. They set it up for their Father's Day card be saved until last. Frank read it aloud just as he had the others and thanked them.

John then said, "Uh, Dad. You need to read it again - carefully."

Frank gave a puzzled look but dutifully began to reread the card. "Mumble, mumble, great dad, mumble, mumble. Nothing unusual here......Love, John, Joy and Baby." "And BABY?!!"
His head shot up, eyes searching for Joy's which were now brimming with tears. "For real? A BABY??!!!" The table erupted with screams of delight, shouts of congratulations, tears, hugs, laughter.

It was quite awhile before we all settled down enough to remember that Frank hadn't opened any gifts yet. The greatest gift had already been given: Frank was finally a POPPA! (Just in case you're wondering, I hope to be called NANA. But I'm sure I'll answer to whatever the baby wants to call me. Smile.)

The only problem with all this great news was that it had to be kept quiet until the doctor gave the clearance to tell. I don't mind telling you that this has been one of the toughest assignments we've ever been given. But we made it! (Only one person guessed and Joy and John were planning to tell her early anyway.)

Now, I know that all this "carrying on" may make it sound like we think we are the first people to ever become grandparents. Not at all. We've listened with truly glad hearts as many of our friends have told about the most brilliant children on the planet - their grandchildren - for years. And we've gladly celebrated each one.

No, this joy is made sweeter because of the sorrow we experienced right after Mom passed away Dec., 2008. At the end of that same month, Joy and John told us they were expecting a baby. We were so happy and it seemed a special gift after so much sadness. They shared the news with our church family and everyone was thrilled.

But just a week later, Joy began to have complications and before we had time to think, she was rushed into emergency surgery. It was an ectopic pregnancy and her fallopian tube had ruptured. We will have to wait until heaven to meet that precious little one. There was a long recovery and many tears that winter.

So yes, we've behaved a little more exuberantly than we might would have otherwise. God has graciously smiled on the John A. Schreck family and has blessed us with yet another life to be celebrated; and believe me, we will! I have a sonogram picture on the refrigerator and you can already tell that this child is both brilliant and beautiful! Smile.

I had a real shock about the world of instant news yesterday when I was given the green light to post my new "status" on facebook. Within three minutes of posting our news, I had nine responses of congratulations. Now that's fast!

Yes, I've joined the club. The club of silly-acting, money-spending, rule-bending, sugar-sneaking, brilliance-bragging, picture-showing: GRANDPARENTS!! How sweet it is!