so the other day as i was grading my identity and branding student’s final projects when i was reminded of a wonderful story from before jack was born. it’s a story of hope, pride, and in some ways, relief. let me preface it with this. deciding to have a child takes a lot of courage, especially if you’re of a certain age. there’s a lot of information out there for expectant parents, a lot of information that can be reassuring, and a lot of information that can be scary if you’re over 35. with that said this story always makes me laugh when i’m reminded of it. those of you who know kelly know that she is an amazing woman. she’s beautiful and intelligent and kind and lots of other things. and she’s driven and determined.
well, on a pleasent autumn day in 2004 kelly and i went to the doctor’s office for the ultrasound. there were lots of emotions running through our bodies as we stepped onto the elevator. the one thing we didn’t share was 32 ounces of water that kelly had to drink only a few hours before our appointment. as we sat in the waiting area i tried to distract kelly from her full bladder by talking about the studio, clients, school, and of course the gender of the baby. it was finally, and just ask kelly by what is meant by finally, our turn. we were taken to a room where the nurse rubbed some jelly on kelly’s belly (say that ten times fast) and began the ultrasound. kelly asked to use the restroom and the nurse said she just had to check one thing first that only took a few seconds. as the nurse was helping kelly off the table she asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby because in those few seconds she could tell. (later that day kelly would tell me she new it was a boy right then because the nurse knew so quickly. apparently boys are easier to spot. what’s that about?) kelly returned and over the next 30 to 45 minutes we got to see little jack from various angles. along with the joy, there was relief to know that everything was fine with our baby. it was overwhelming, to say the least, to see his little fingers, toes, and head. to hear his heartbeat. it was awesome.
okay, so what does this have to do with me grading projects 13 months later. as kelly and i were leaving the building i noticed this big smile. she turned to me and said “i sneaked a peek at jack’s report. i’m so proud of him. he got an A+.” I just had to smile and laugh. i looked at this proud mother to be and said “kelly, that’s jack’s blood type.”