Heart Strings

It was a late night for us at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but finally, around 9:47 pm last night, Caleb Aleksan Aprahamian came into this world.

After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally allowed to go back to the delivery room and see him for the first time. Relief, and sheer joy, filled my heart as I saw my beautiful, smiling Angela, holding Caleb….healthy, perfect, complete, and looking around at his new world!

They say we’re all tied together in this world, hearts and souls somehow connected across time and space, through boundaries visible and invisible, “wrapped in a single garment of destiny”, as Martin Luther King once said. Last night, in that busy room, I witnessed the origins of those connections in little Caleb’s life. As we each took turns holding him, admiring his perfection, I could almost see the fingers of God reaching down and connecting us one by one to Caleb, and Caleb to us. I watched in awe as heart strings were extended in both directions and plugged in. I really felt like I could sense sparks of energy happen as we all became the first of what will be many important connections in Caleb’s life.

Mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousin….each of us in our own way feeling the origins of lifelong, meaningful relationships with this little guy and imagining what that would look like in our own lives. And even more heart strings were stretched across the miles, back to Texas, where connections were instantly felt and energized with family and friends as the news of his arrival spread. I hope and pray that when his cousin Margo saw his picture for the first time this morning, she felt the spark of their hearts connecting, 1600 miles away, much like their mothers’ hearts are. (Alycia says Margo was “so ‘cited! K-bub is here!” Hopefully we can get her pronunciation of his name corrected before Caleb is aware. Or, maybe not!)

Heart strings are strong. They can be stretched in extreme ways, almost to the point of breaking. They can be tied in knots. They can be circuitous, indirect, and sometimes hard to see. But they are our conduits of love, the strands of connectedness through which we draw strength and support from one another. I got to be a witness last night as God started weaving little Caleb’s underpinning network of support and love, and it felt wonderful to see that beginning. I can’t wait to watch what happens as that beautiful woven cloth of so many colors, backgrounds and histories continues to expand. Welcome to the world, Caleb! We’re here for you!

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“We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone…and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weaving of individual threads from one to another” – Sandra Day O’Conner

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, along those sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” – Herman Melville