Cooper Smith Flocken joined the global family on August 3. Patty and I flew out to the new parents in the first week and couldn't get enough of the little guy. By the time we left, we knew two things for certain: one, we had a keeper, and, two, this whole baby at a distance thing was going to cost a lot of money in airfare over the next several years!
I find myself thinking about Cooper a lot. What kind of person will he be and become? What will he look like? More importantly, what will he see when he looks in the mirror? Will he feel confident and secure? Where will his intelligence come from? Has Cooper inherited an ability to think analytically like his maternal grandfather? To see and articulate invisible things like his paternal grandfather? To be compassionate and caring like his paternal grandmother and father? To excel in athletics and art like his mother? To transform food into a heavenly meal and be bilingual like his maternal grandmother? What will his passion in life be? His character and virtues? Values and principles? How can I help Cooper along the way?
Right now it's probably a good thing to just keep him warm and safe, fed and comfortable, with just enough stimulation to peak his curiosity and grow his senses without overwhelming and frightening him. Our little guy may be a 21st century global citizen in the making, but he's still a little guy. I wish we lived closer to Cooper. I'll just have to settle for carrying him around in my heart until we're together again, up close and personal as the saying goes.
Cooper's birth has pressed upon me the immediacy of proper physical care and nurture of other children, children everywhere having the same needs as Cooper, such as:
How can I help other children along the way that leads to abundant life? I've begun to blend children back into my daily living. I look with renewed sensitivity at babies. Speak with greater compassion about children and especially to children. I'm actively helping to rebuild our youth ministry in the parish: as the congregation has gotten older, we've kind of let this part of what we are called to do slip by. This past weekend for example, I volunteered for the first time to serve as a spiritual director in a weekend long faith discovery program for middle school aged youths. When asked why I volunteered all I could think to say was "because I've got a new grandson who lives 2,000 miles away from me and I hope others will do the same there for him."
In the meantime, until Aunt Kate visits him in early December and GrandPatty does so in late December, and we bring his family east for a baptism in March, I'll keep up with Cooper in the most economical and best way available, namely Skype video conferencing!
Cooper's birth has pressed upon me the immediacy of proper physical care and nurture of other children, children everywhere having the same needs as Cooper, such as:
- getting the right prenatal care and baby nutrition,
- being kept secure and safe,
- having constant, trustworthy and loving primary caretakers,
- having access to health care and education,
- being free from race or gender discrimination or civil unrest,
- having opportunities to grow vocationally and spiritually,
- chances to do work that is meaningful and personally fulfilling,
- having a life with family and friends,
- experiencing love and joy and peace.
How can I help other children along the way that leads to abundant life? I've begun to blend children back into my daily living. I look with renewed sensitivity at babies. Speak with greater compassion about children and especially to children. I'm actively helping to rebuild our youth ministry in the parish: as the congregation has gotten older, we've kind of let this part of what we are called to do slip by. This past weekend for example, I volunteered for the first time to serve as a spiritual director in a weekend long faith discovery program for middle school aged youths. When asked why I volunteered all I could think to say was "because I've got a new grandson who lives 2,000 miles away from me and I hope others will do the same there for him."
In the meantime, until Aunt Kate visits him in early December and GrandPatty does so in late December, and we bring his family east for a baptism in March, I'll keep up with Cooper in the most economical and best way available, namely Skype video conferencing!
