Jami's birthday

Thanks to Denise from The Seasonal Cottage and Mark, at The Butler and Bagman Chronicles, I've been reminded of a special night, just on eleven years ago.

My granddaughter, Jami was born on the morning of 18 November, 1998. In the early hours of the morning one of the nursing staff tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Come for a break. Come and have a look out the window." She lead me to dark room in a north facing corner of the building and I followed her lead and pressed my nose up to the window and put my hands up around my eyes to shut out the glare of the city outside. We could just make out the dancing lights in the sky.

The nurse couldn't leave her post but she assured me nothing was about to happen with my daughter in the meantime (I'd reached the same conclusion myself) so why not go for a walk down to the lake to get away from the lights of the buildings and perhaps see better.

I'd gone in and out of the hospital a few times during the night so the security guard enquired, "Any progress." When I said I was going outside down to the lake, the guard assured me he could not allow me to do that by myself, to wait a minute for him to call for someone to cover him and he would come with me.

So, around three am the security guard and I were down by the lake, in the spot with the least reflected city light that we could find, watching the Leonids Meteor shower. White and coloured sparkles seemed to fill the sky to the north of us. It was extremely beautiful. I was tired, very tired. I was concerned for my daughter. But I took being a witness to this spectacular show as a good sign. And returned to my daughter's side refreshed and feeling much more positive.

I haven't seen the annual Leonids Meteor shower again and tonight the weather is very dark and overcast so I will miss this year's show.

I wonder if other children born under the meteor shower are as bright and sparkly as Jami. It seems to me she absorbed some of the brilliance in the sky around us that night.