Brothers

When we found out we were having a 2nd boy, I must admit I was a bit disappointed at first. We were pretty sure 2 kids was going to be our max, so my dream of having a girl was quickly slipping away. But, after just a short period of adjusting to the idea, I was very happy for Cody to be gaining a brother. Both Bob and I basically grew up as only children (I have half-siblings who are much younger than I) and felt strongly we wanted Cody to have a sibling - it seemed to us that giving him a brother would be a huge gift.

But now our picture is so much different than we imagined. The relationship Cody and Nathan will have is not what I had expected. Cody will likely feel a big responsibility for his brother and could eventually even need to care for him. They will not relate to each other in the ways typical brothers do. But, I also know each of their lives will be enriched greatly by the other. I hope Cody will learn a depth of compassion from being the big brother to Nathan. And I hope Nathan will learn to acheive more than expected because of Cody's encouragement.

No, this is not the picture I had in my mind, but I'm hopeful we'll see the beauty in it as it develops.

-Danielle