Our family has grown this week - by two. Not twins but two little boys born on opposite sides of the world, and on the same day Canberra-time.
In 1976, we had two babies born into the family. My brother and his first wife gave birth to their third child, a boy, in March. In November, my eldest sister gave birth to her third child, a girl. These were my third nephew and my third niece. I was nine years old and already had some notoriety for being an aunt at an age when my friends were more likely to be welcoming new brothers or sisters than nieces and nephews. I remember Tony being born in a hospital on the north coast of New South Wales and leaving school early in the day to drive the couple of hours from Sydney to see him. I don't have as clear a memory of Linda's birth eight months later - although it is possible I was also able to leave school early in the day to visit my new niece.
Some 32 years later, Tony is a father for the first time. His wife, Lisa, gave birth to Bailey in Canberra in the early evening of Wednesday. A few hours later, we heard that Linda had given birth to Rowyn in Canada. Rowyn is Linda's third child, her first boy. And although the birth dates are different due to international date lines, the closeness of the births reminded me that I have always thought of Tony and Linda as being linked in some way. Probably this is because, until they were born, my nieces and nephews arrived annually - 1971 Vanessa; 1972 Donna; 1973 Geoffrey; 1974 Gary. Tony and Linda upset the pattern and shared a birth year.
Bailey and Rowyn are continuing another pattern too. Since Jack was born nearly eight years ago, all the babies born on 'my side' of the family have been boys.* And there have now been seven of them. Until Jack's birth, my nieces and nephews were evenly divided, my great-nieces and great-nephews more of a mix.
Happy birthday, Bailey and Rowyn.
* Families being the complicated things they are, this statement may not be correct. Gary has, I think, two children but for reasons known only to him, I haven't had an opportunity to meet them. Nor has anyone else in the extended family. Gary, Garoldo, GET IN TOUCH!
