115/365 Babies change things

I drop out of parish life after Sophia's baptism. It's the way it had to be. I needed to breathe a moment and concentrate on other things. I barely went to church that fall, and when I finally did in late November, I ran into Joey.

She's a big gal and I didn't want to ask, but she told me before I hesitated. She was pregnant.

Babies change things. Her daughter Hannah was 6 months younger than Sophia. They went to Atrium together and played some. She came to a few birthday parties. And it was ok.

I never trusted Joey, not really, but I could see that babies changed things. She changed. She lost some of her edges. Hannah had some problems and Joey became a kind of advocate for her. She didn't do all the things I assumed she would--hire a live in nanny and keep going with all her volunteer work and important meetings. No, she trimmed her lifestyle a bit and focused on Hannah. And it changed things.

They moved a few years ago but I still get the rare email from her. She had to leave for me to get back into parish life, I realize now. Even though babies changed things, we couldn't have managed together.