Michel: Baby Charlie joins world in perfect little package
Published 2:11 pm Friday, March 20, 2015
Winnie the Pooh is right.
Sometimes the smallest things really do take up the most room in your heart.
Charlie Marie Roth weighs less than eight pounds and seems to disappear in the burrito-type bunting her mother, Monique, uses to swaddle her. Yet since her birth, my third grandchild has consumed my thoughts and topped my gratitude list.
After watching Monique labor for a day, I gasped when I saw Charlie Marie enter the world — a world which was filled with people, including her sister Olivia, crammed in a nearby room, somewhat patiently waiting her arrival.
Her father, Frank, reminded me to take a picture of the clock so we would always remember that at 8:19 p.m. on March 12, 2015, our family expanded by one precious life.
She shares more than a name with her deceased great-grandfather, Charles. The dimple in her chin, also sported by her mother and grandfather, looks much like the one of the ancestor we still miss.
Charlie is also the namesake of her great-grandmother, Marie Claire, and one of Monique’s best friends, Marie Ory DuPont.
Both were women of love, grace and compassion who forever impacted those who were fortunate enough to know them.
Still so tiny, Charlie Marie daily reminds us of the huge roles three people played in the lives of our family and friends.
She will undoubtedly leave her own, unique mark with her specially chosen God-given gifts. But, for now, she nestles perfectly in the crook of my arm and my ever-expanding heart.
Ronny Michel may be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com.