Page 667 - WhyAsInY
P. 667
finals
Naturally, and I mean that literally, our family also grew in other splendid ways.
Jesse Anselm Yaverbaum, my first grandson, was by far the first to arrive to increase the fold, as he was born to Danny and his then wife, Marilyn, on Monday, November 4, 2003 (the day after my birthday), just six weeks or so before my mother passed away on Friday, December 19. Jesse provided us with the first, and maybe the last, moment at which four generations of Yaverbaums were gathered in one room, indeed were alive at the same time, as Danny took his infant son to visit Mom with me about two weeks before she died.
Six years later, Jesse was joined by his cousin, Maya Blu Beninati, my first granddaughter, who was born to Rachel and Joe at the Danbury Hospital, Danbury, Connecticut, on Thursday, October 22, 2009.
Within a matter of about seven weeks, on Saturday, January 9, 2010, Kathy’s first grandson, Charles (“Charlie”) Snow Meyer, was born to Molly and Dan in Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, in Boston, Massa- chusetts (where Doctor Dan was doing his residency).
Then, on Tuesday, October 11, 2011, Rachel celebrated her birth- day by delivering to Joe and the rest of the family, their son, Elijah River Beninati, who chose to spare Rachel and Joe the customary frantic rush to the hospital by arriving, as planned by his parents, at their home in Stamford, Connecticut, with the help of a midwife and a doula, and thereby turning the broader family’s extreme nervousness to extreme relief and extreme joy.
About two and one-half years later, on vendredi, le 24 mai 2013, Annabelle and David Meyer increased the fold by delivering Elliott Jack Meyer to us in Brussels; according to grand-mère Kathy, who was in Bel- gium shortly after the blessed event, Elliott’s first cries were in both French and English.
The next year, on Sunday, September 17, 2014, making sure that he arrived on his due date by being born at 11:55 p.m. or so, Felix Martens Yaverbaum chose Roosevelt Hospital (a vital part of Kathy’s Continuum Health Partners) to make his initial appearance for a delighted Melissa and Danny.
• 649 •