2nd June - Born Day

On 2nd June at around 8pm, our grandson Matthew was born. I must admit my initial thoughts were focussed on the health and welfare of our daughter who had not experienced  a pleasant day up to the birth.

I'm not what you call natural grandparent material; anyone who knows me from my work life will know that I do not naturally bond with young children. However my immediate thoughts were that my family had its first 21st Century man.

Birth reminds us of our own mortality, something that we really need no reminding about, so inevitably we try to shuffle such thoughts to the back of our minds.

Drifting off to sleep some time around midnight, I received a call from my son in law to say that our daughter was losing too much blood and might need a blood tranfusion. In minutes we were heading to the hospital, me driving. The rain lashed down as we made our way through a near deserted Chelmsford.

Fortunately my daughter didn't require the transfusion. We were able to talk and see our grandson for the first time. After what had been a traumatic day for him too. He slept soundly, just turning occasionally to stretch out his arms.

Here was a new born baby only 5 hours old. After a stay of about a hour I drove home my eyes on the road, but my mind very much returning to an issue that I'd reconsidered only a couple of days earlier.

When my mother was born in 1925 the world's population stood at 2 billion, last year it reached 7 billion, projections suggest that by the time Matthew is an adult it will be heading towards 9 billion.
My mind turned to the type of world Matthew will inherit, the problems his generation will face.
Will "his people" be able to feed themselves, by that I mean everyone across the world. Will poverty and starvation be a thing of the past or a recurring curse ? Will there be enough water to drink ? How will they light and heat their homes ? How will they learn ?

Recent talk of "future people" hit me between the eyes last night, as future became present. Those of us capable of ensuring that there are necessary resources for future generations need to make them a priority. My grandson Matthew should inherit a world not beset with the problems that mine and previous generations have created.