About 2 years ago, my aunt and uncle used to come into New York City, while I was at school in New Jersey. They explained to me that they were coming into the city in order to see a specialist, so that my aunt could have in vitro fertilization. For years, they had tried to have a baby, with no luck. This was their latest, and most extreme measure in order to finally be blessed with a child. After several treatments, there was no sign of baby, and they decided to stop trying with the therapy. Soon after, my mom called me, to let me know that my aunt finally was expecting.
A few weeks (or months later–I don’t remember exactly), I got a call from my mom letting me know that my aunt had lost the baby, and that both her, and my uncle were very upset about this. With this devastation, they decided to stop trying, the prospect of having a baby was too heartbreaking, when they realized there was a very small chance that it would ever happen.
A few months later, after giving up hope, we found out that my aunt was finally pregnant, with a boy, who after being very premature, finally joined us in June of that year. When born, Anthony, was somewhere around 2 lbs, being the smallest human being I have ever seen. After a few months of being kept in an incubator, he was sent home, without any major problems.
Anthony was definitely a miracle for my aunt and uncle, and the entire family. Every time I see him, I think about how glad I am that he made it through the hardship that was the first few months of his life. After being alive for over a year now, everyday I think about how thankful we are to have him with us.
Today, while I began reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s book No Death, No Fear, I was again reminded of Anthony. The passage read “If a baby has been lost it means that conditions were not enough for him to manifest, and that child has decided to withdraw in order to wait for better conditions, “I will withdraw, I’ll come back again soon, my dearest.”
In reading this, I thought, the miscarried baby was just waiting for better conditions, perhaps we would not have appreciated the baby as much as we do now, if there was no hardship attached to it. Either way, I was reminded that everything comes at the right time, though we don’t recognize it in the face of hardship, there is always a silver lining.
Anthony, Our Smallest Miracle
