This is the time of year when the holidays draw closer and we tend to spend more time bundled up together in our homes. It's also the time of year when we enjoy sending and receiving cards and letters from our friends and distant family members. We hear and relate family news. Advent's anticipation of the birth of the Christ Child and the holiday occasions for family gathering can often open doors to a reflection on the gift of family and on family births.
Birth is a wonderful mystery to little ones.
I was four when my mother was pregnant with my brother Terry. Her pregnancy was a fascination to me. I remember our sitting together on the sofa, her with a big, round tummy and me with my teddy bear stuffed under my dress looking at pictures in a book she had. See, it has fingers and toes, eyes and ears, a little nose and a mouth. I remember asking, as I munched an apple from a holiday basket my aunt had sent.