This column was in today's paper. Thought some of you would enjoy reading it.
Grandpa captures a moment
08/11/2002
By STEVE BLOW / The Dallas Morning News
It's always the big, emotional events in life that prompt people to try their hand at poetry.
A friend had one of those experiences a few months back. And he recently shared the poem that it inspired.
I'm no expert, but I think it's pretty good especially for the message it conveys.
Read carefully. As the big events of life go, this one isn't as common as first appears.
"I Became A Grandpa Yesterday"
I became a grandpa yesterday, My daughter made me proud Though it did surprise me just a bit
To hear her yell so loud.
I never knew I'd feel this way When as a younger man The life I dreamed ahead for her Did not look like this plan.
I thought someday she'd marry And have a child or two And I'd just have to spoil them Cause that's what grandpas do.
But as I held this little child And felt her beating heart I knew her life had just begun But ours would never start.
For when my daughter leaves this room And goes back to live at home Her daughter will go another place The place that she'll call home.
My daughter has done a simple thing One not often seen A gift of life to a couple in need To fill their love so keen.
They planned and tried to have a child But some things weren't just right But this couple hugged and squeezed their dream And kept their hopes alive.
My daughter made a choice that's hard And let her daughter go And from that choice that she has made Both lives will get to grow.
A couple gives love to a newborn child As a girl finds hope in her heart And as they leave this room tomorrow Both lives get a new start.
I became a grandpa yesterday But today I'm just a dad My daughter made a choice for life And for that I am very glad.
Understand, this isn't about politics.
When his 19-year-old daughter first told him she was pregnant, my friend told her he would love her and support her in whatever decision she made.
But in the end, he said he was so proud of his daughter for taking what seemed the most courageous, most unselfish route.
She had three choices, of course. Abortion. Parenthood. Or adoption.
It was a shock for him to learn how rare that third choice has become.
Want to guess how many crisis pregnancies now end in adoption?
Fewer than 2 percent.
That number haunts Paige McCoy Smith. She's vice president of communication for the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth.
"It's something that keeps me awake at night, trying to figure out how we can communicate the message," she said.
The message: "There are three choices to a crisis pregnancy. So many are only aware of two."
Incidentally, it's not abortions that have increased in the last 20 years. It's single parenthood.
Study after study has shown how detrimental single parenthood can be to a child particularly teen parenthood. But that is the choice that has grown enormously.
Only about 175 women a year turn to the world-famous Gladney Center for help with an adoption.
But Paige said she is awed by the courage of those mothers. "The women we work with are nothing short of heroes," she said.
"They love their child so much, they are willing to say: 'I don't have what it takes to care for this child. I want this child to have opportunities and privileges that I'm not currently able to provide.' It's such a courageous, loving decision."
My friend's daughter had been adrift for some time before this pregnancy. They barely spoke.
But in finding the courage to choose adoption, the daughter also found the strength to put her life back on track.
"I may have lost a granddaughter," my friend said, "but I got a daughter back."
Grandpa captures a moment
08/11/2002
By STEVE BLOW / The Dallas Morning News
It's always the big, emotional events in life that prompt people to try their hand at poetry.
A friend had one of those experiences a few months back. And he recently shared the poem that it inspired.
I'm no expert, but I think it's pretty good especially for the message it conveys.
Read carefully. As the big events of life go, this one isn't as common as first appears.
"I Became A Grandpa Yesterday"
I became a grandpa yesterday, My daughter made me proud Though it did surprise me just a bit
To hear her yell so loud.
I never knew I'd feel this way When as a younger man The life I dreamed ahead for her Did not look like this plan.
I thought someday she'd marry And have a child or two And I'd just have to spoil them Cause that's what grandpas do.
But as I held this little child And felt her beating heart I knew her life had just begun But ours would never start.
For when my daughter leaves this room And goes back to live at home Her daughter will go another place The place that she'll call home.
My daughter has done a simple thing One not often seen A gift of life to a couple in need To fill their love so keen.
They planned and tried to have a child But some things weren't just right But this couple hugged and squeezed their dream And kept their hopes alive.
My daughter made a choice that's hard And let her daughter go And from that choice that she has made Both lives will get to grow.
A couple gives love to a newborn child As a girl finds hope in her heart And as they leave this room tomorrow Both lives get a new start.
I became a grandpa yesterday But today I'm just a dad My daughter made a choice for life And for that I am very glad.
Understand, this isn't about politics.
When his 19-year-old daughter first told him she was pregnant, my friend told her he would love her and support her in whatever decision she made.
But in the end, he said he was so proud of his daughter for taking what seemed the most courageous, most unselfish route.
She had three choices, of course. Abortion. Parenthood. Or adoption.
It was a shock for him to learn how rare that third choice has become.
Want to guess how many crisis pregnancies now end in adoption?
Fewer than 2 percent.
That number haunts Paige McCoy Smith. She's vice president of communication for the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth.
"It's something that keeps me awake at night, trying to figure out how we can communicate the message," she said.
The message: "There are three choices to a crisis pregnancy. So many are only aware of two."
Incidentally, it's not abortions that have increased in the last 20 years. It's single parenthood.
Study after study has shown how detrimental single parenthood can be to a child particularly teen parenthood. But that is the choice that has grown enormously.
Only about 175 women a year turn to the world-famous Gladney Center for help with an adoption.
But Paige said she is awed by the courage of those mothers. "The women we work with are nothing short of heroes," she said.
"They love their child so much, they are willing to say: 'I don't have what it takes to care for this child. I want this child to have opportunities and privileges that I'm not currently able to provide.' It's such a courageous, loving decision."
My friend's daughter had been adrift for some time before this pregnancy. They barely spoke.
But in finding the courage to choose adoption, the daughter also found the strength to put her life back on track.
"I may have lost a granddaughter," my friend said, "but I got a daughter back."
