Sometimes A Little Girl Just 3 Hours Old Can Change Your World...

When my plane landed in Indy, I turned on my cell phone and there was a Picture Message from Jeb and there she was, little Lyla, horrified by the new world around her and covered in remnants of what had surrounded her for the last several months. Little did I know how symbolic that was for everyone she would come into contact with, she was shedding what she had known and been comfortable with and so had her parents and soon...myself. I ran to grab my rental car and raced down I-465 to the hospital.

Jeb met me at the elevator doors and we walked down the hallway to room 416. When we entered the room, the air changed. There she was, so small and so beautiful. The first time Dawn, her mother, put her in my arms the world changed. I didn't expect to be attached to the baby, I was there to support my best friend and his wife, but this moment was so much more than that. We spent the next couple of days in the hospital to make sure all was well with mother and child and Saturday night, the Templeton family was able to go home for the first time. I stuck around for a couple more days to help where I could and then had to get back east to resume the work I abandoned. It's amazing, overnight, a new life was brought into this world, I saw my best friend become a man that would move the earth with his bare hands to ensure the happiness of a little girl, a family became whole, a lot of people lost a lot of sleep and I suddenly found myself with a niece, perfect little Lyla and she changed my world.

I got on that plane heading east hesitantly, I already missed my friends and now there was one more to miss. Don't grow up too fast Lyla, but when you do, change this world like you did mine and your parents.

-Rod

P.S. Of course, I have a ton of photos, as any annoyingly proud uncle, here's my virtual brag book: www.flickr.com/delylah