Then and Now

George Eliot once said, ~There are various orders of beauty causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles...but there is one order of beauty which seems made to turn heads not only of men, but of all intelligent mammals, even women. It is a beauty like that of kittens, or very small down ducks making gentle ripping noises with their soft bills, or babies just beginning to toddle and to engage in conscious mischief - a beauty with which you can never be angry, but that you feel ready to crush for inability to comprehend the state of mind into which it throws you. Its truly amazing how a baby or children under the age of 4 can have such a Pavlovian effect on a person to where he or she flocks to that child. Without a doubt, women will flock at the sight of a baby, especially if he or she is a newborn. Undeniably, when a baby is seen the first thing usually uttered from her mouth is one word which is aaawwwweeeee. I can't count the number of times a parent has walked in with his or her baby and almost immediately a female co-worker has that child in her arms. Whether or not she is a mother is inconsequential because that child brings a smile on her face as he or she is rocked back and forth in her arms. Let me tell you something, you don't want to ever be in the way of a woman who sees a baby walk through the hallowed halls of the asylum. Trust me, I have the bumps, bruises, as well as scars from past experiences.

Guys, on the other hand, don't necessarily flock to a baby, but rather mosey on over there and take a gander on what all the hubbub is about. Now, for some reason from a guy's perspective we have this mentality to try to make a baby smile or at least laugh by any means possible. In some aspect, once we put our minds to something then we will not quit until that objective is met. Though we may fail the first or second time, usually the third time's the charm. It can be a comical situation when you see a group of guys try to do this and absolutely nothing happens, but it doesn't phase us as we continue to make faces and stick things up our noses to see any _expression of happiness form on his or her face.

Working in the asylum, you don't get a chance to take care of the babies, but rather their big brother(s) and/or sister(s). Initially, when they jump ship from daycare to the youth center, its a whole new ballgame with a different set of rules to play by. As a person who takes care of 6 and 7 year olds, we consistently tell them that they aren't babies anymore and they should act like big boys and big girls who don't need to be always picked up or babied. Over the years I have been able to see kids grow up, but it's a rare occasion indeed when you get the chance to see him or her grow up in front of your eyes starting as a baby, which I have been privileged enough to see happen.

A couple of months ago I found out that a guy who works at the asylum knew my brother and I when we were practically babies when he was stationed with my dad in Adak, Alaska. It's basically a surreal experience knowing that someone kinda helped raise you and knew how you acted back in the day. Whether it can be considered a good thing or a bad thing, he basically told me I've grown up to be a fine upstanding young man. In retrospect, we're all still cute babies in the eyes of our parents, but they have to see that we have grown up even though our parents don't want to see that. Looking at photos I can honestly say that my brother and I were cute and hopefully we still are, just look at these two pictures of us then and now.

A couple of a months ago I found out that a guy who works at the asylum knew my brother and I when we were practically babies when he was stationed with my dad in Adak, Alaska. Its basically a surreal experience knowing that someone kinda helped raised you and knew how you acted back in the day. Whether it can be considered a good thing or a bad thing, he basically told me I've grown up to be a fine upstanding young man. In retrospect, we're all still cute babies in the eyes of our parents, but they have to see we have grown up even though our parents don't want see that. Looking at photos I can honestly say that my brother and I were cute and hopefuly we still are, just look at these two pictures of us then and now.

*Note*Unfortunately the pics could not be loaded, I apologize but if you want to see the pics of us then and now, you can email me.