My parents called on the 7th. Like all conversations with my mother I was reduced to a pile of twitching Em, weeping and banging my head on the floor. I wiggled and moaned and prayed for tornado or fire to make the pain go away. Instead I listened and appeased her with "uh-huhs" and "oh reallies" until finally (for the 5th time) she said, "Well, I think that's everything." And by "everything" she means everything!! I heard about her most current health condition, about the spading of our puppy, and a detailed list of everything that has gone on since I left... in 1999. So the words, "I think that's everything" was almost equivelant to a boy saying, "You're pretty and I brought you chocolate."

But she forgot something. I don't know how it happened but she forgot something.

Almost a week later I get an email from my dad.

Hello Emily,
We forgot to mention to you that Jaime (Jonathan's girl friend) gave birth to a baby girl last Friday. Jamie
e-mailed me the following information:
this is jamie lester..
her name is Milanni Aloha Matautia
born at st joseph in tacoma
weight... 7 lbs
length.... 18 and 3/4 inches
when birth.. Sept. 5th @ 11:22 pm

My mom told me about her toenails and the two-for-one canned food sale at our local Safeway, but she failed to mention the birth of my first niece. The one thing that would have peaked my interest and she just left it out. My dad sent me pictures of her over email today. She's beautiful. So very beautiful.