The baby my daughter holds in the photo, taken in 2004, is her nephew, my grandson. In a matter of days, she will hold her own daughter in her arms. It seems like a long time since our daughter told us she would be expecting in November. Now, her delivery date draws nigh.
   "Expecting." It’s an interesting word when applied to a pregnant woman. What, really, does a mother expect? Naturally, she hopes for a child that is healthy both physically and mentally. But no one can say, at this moment, if the baby kicking around within her will meet that expectation.
   In any case, our daughter is about to begin what will likely be the most important caregiving role of her life. So much of caregiving is modeled on the example of mother’s love…

   This is not to exclude fathers. It is simply to say that our very first caregiver is typically, though not always, our mother. Modern technology, with its ability to engage surrogate mothers, artificial insemination and a variety of other options, may have confused the issue in the minds of some. Yet, it is still the image of motherly love that guides our idea of loving care.

    What could be more intimate than to be so close to our mother that we actually grew inside her? Is there any image more touching than a mother nursing her baby at her breast, feeding her infant with the fruit of her own body?
   But the harder tests of love come later. Soon my daughter will rise out of her fatigue, in the middle of the night, to nurse her child. Soon, the natural inclination of parents to worry about their offspring will fall on her and her husband. The challenge of providing the right kind and quality of nurturing will occupy this baby’s mother and father every day, perhaps for the rest of their lives.
   My wife and I have been extraordinarily fortunate in parenting two children who are, and always have been, marvelous human beings. Now that our son is 39 and our daughter 36, one might imagine that our work is done. But every parent knows that their children are never far from their thoughts, regardless of their age.
   And all of this speaks volumes about the core of caregiving. Love means offering the other what they need, not what we want. This may mean that, on occasion, we will be called to back away. It may also mean that we will need to give ourselves rest and refreshment so that we can be present for others.
   But these are all abstractions for a woman about to deliver. My daughter, like you, has prepared herself as best she can for the caregiving challenge ahead. The rest is, of course, in God’s hands.

-Erie Chapman