Over on the west coast of Ireland my late brother Paul had two sons with his wife Josephine. Above you can see Paul's youngest son Kevin with his new baby boy - Finn who was born this very month. I love the look on Kevin's face. It seems to be saying, "I love you Finn and I will guide you and watch you grow and get money to feed you and keep a roof over your head and be the very best father I can be to you. Thank you for your arrival this very day. You are already beginning to enrich my life."
Of course Kevin's girlfriend Serena had a small part to play in making Finn happen.
It is a shame that he came into our world almost thirteen years after Paul's untimely death. Paul would have loved his first grandson with all of his heart, perhaps playing tunes on his fiddle to send the little man to sleep.
Here's Paul's older son Michael holding his brand new nephew:-
Michael and Kevin were born within eighteen months of each other and remain very close. They are both trained electricians so as long as they avoid touching live wires they'll always be okay for work. They were always smashing little lads but of course they are grown men now. Michael was thirty one last December.
Youth evaporates but life goes on.
Welcome Finn.
Will Finn and Phoebe get the chance to know each other?
ReplyDeleteThey will meet one day but I doubt that they will ever be close.
DeleteA happy family, you should go visit. There are nice ferries that run from Holyhead to Dublin.
ReplyDeleteI have been to the west coast of Ireland many times Travel. Next year my niece Katie will be getting married over there for a second time and if invited to the wedding I shall probably go.
DeleteIt is good to see happy news these days, and to see those happy, smiling faces.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the news would melt President Putin's iceberg heart.
DeleteHe has no heart.
DeleteBabies symbolize hope and the future, don't they? He's so sweet and so nice to see your nephews, handsome young men.
ReplyDeleteI hope he stays there on the west coast of Ireland as his father and uncle have done.Though not cut off from the world, life seems simpler there.
DeleteYouth might evaporate, but as Madeline L'engle puts it: 'I am still all the ages I have ever been.'
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Madeleine L'Engle's osteoporosis said before she died.
DeleteEveryone dies, but until that end, we will still remember what we were when we were six. Or 16. What it was to be loved. Or unloved. We hold our memories, and our dreams, our experiences, being a young parent, being a grandparent. Everything is still there if you care to look. Osteoporosis isn't going to change that.
DeleteMadeleine L'Engle's remark was unoriginal.
DeleteMadeleine L'Engle's remark was quite original, I would argue. And pithy.
DeleteWhat beautiful young men! And that expression on Kevin's face is everything. Look at that tiny baby of his! Both brothers appear to be smitten.
ReplyDeleteThey both have kind hearts and healthy respect for women.
DeleteI always think of the Garth Brook song in this situation where he says something like, "We come into this world yelling giddy up and go out hollering whoa!"
ReplyDeleteWhoa! But then the horse refuses to pull up.
DeleteThe photo of the Wash in your last post delighted me.
ReplyDeleteThis multiple estuary is where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire, brave swimmers have swum it, though I did not know that Hunstanton is the only resort on England's east coast that faces due west.
Your photo of Finn is more delightful again.
You and Shirley have a second grandchild to love and pamper.
Finn is quite a name ! I foresee many walks with Finn on those wide English beaches.
Grandnephew, I should have written.
DeleteA young Finn McCool, striding the Giant's Causeway !
I am very sorry your brother Paul never lived to see his grandson.
My Uncle Jack and his wife Margaret never lived to see their only grandson.
Sadly, I cannot foresee those walks. It is said that King John lost a large amount of treasure while taking a shortcut across part of The Wash. It is a massive tidal inlet as maps show and so wide and mostly shallow too.
DeleteKevin's love for his little son is so obvious in this photo, as is Michael's for his brand new nephew.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of the love my Dad had for me and my sister. We have photos of the three of us where my Dad's face says it all. Even much, much later, when we were women living our own lives and Dad could no longer protect us the way he had done when we were little girls, he always asked direct, poignant questions to make sure we were fine. I remember one day, not long after Steve and I were married, Dad asked me "Is the love still as it was?". I could confirm it was. Even just writing about it now makes me well up.
I am pleased that this blogpost drew up such memories and feelings from deep within you.
DeleteI see a slight resemblance to your Ian in both their faces, or maybe it's the beard? Wishing baby Finn the happiest of lives.
ReplyDeleteAssuming he lives, Finn will be my age in 2093 and will probably be around to witness the start of a new century - 2100.
Delete"I Believe" The Bachelors is very fitting lyrics for this post YP. I saw them many moons ago at the Floral Hall in Scarborough and I saw your nice Kate at Doolin Folk Festival a few years ago. She's rather splendid!
ReplyDeleteKatie is Michael and Kevin's half sister.
DeleteNeice even.
ReplyDeleteNiece even.
DeleteOne of the nicest things I have seen in my lifetime, perhaps more so here than in England, is the obvious love fathers show to their children. Fathers are no longer the remote and unaffectionate disciplinarian, and they take ownership of raising a child much more than ever before. Your nephews sem like classic examples.
ReplyDeleteAll of the fathers I know were very involved in the upbringing of their children. They changed nappies, read stories, sang lullabies, fed the little ones and so on.
DeleteI think it may have been a more Australian thing.
DeleteWhat sweet photos! Finn fits so nicely into the crook of his arms. They grow so quickly tho! Wishing Finn the best life!
ReplyDeleteBarring accidents. Finn may live into the next century.
Delete"..Serena had a small part..." SMALL??
ReplyDeleteFinn is beautiful and I can see he will be well loved and cared for.
Glad you spotted that cheeky remark River!
DeleteIt would seem that Paul did a great job with his son's before he so cruelly departed. Wee Finn will have not one but two male role models.
ReplyDeleteI hope the new babe eats and sleeps well and his parents are well supported
Josephine played a small part in raising Michael and Kevin too. They both remember Paul with warm affection for he gave them so much of himself and had much fun with him too.
DeleteI've just read a book which talks about the importance of men in the life of a boy. Many boys miss out, hence my focus on Paul, Michael and Kevin
DeleteMichael and Ian look a lot alike, I think.
ReplyDeleteSome similarity but I think that Michael has more of his mother's genes in him than his father's.
DeleteOne forgets how tiny new babies are when one is not around them all the time. Welcome, Finn.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world, Finn, messy though it may be!
ReplyDelete