It couldn't last of course. They both knew it. Not the evening, Not the holiday.

Childbirth calls into question our very existence, requiring an expectant couple to confront not only new life but death, pain, fear and, most of all, change.

However much we know about birth in general, we know nothing about a particular birth. We must let it unfold with its own uniqueness.

Birth, like love, is an energy and a process, happening within a relationship. Both unfold with their own timing, with a uniqueness that can never be anticipated, with a power that can never be controlled, but with an exquisite mystery to be appreciated.

It couldn't last of course. They both knew it. Not the evening, Not the holiday.