Love Before Sight

When it came to the matters of the heart, I was pragmatic and even a little skeptical. It's not that I don't believe in love. I believe in its existence and its merit. Indeed, I'm a passionate advocate of it. It's just that my idea of it is not viewed through rose-colored glasses because I have seen how other people's notion of love has reduced their self-worth. For me, the use of the word "love" should not be taken lightly. Although I can undoubtedly say I have married the love of my life, I have never believed in love at first sight or any idealized, fairy-tale view of love.

However, on April 17, 2009, 24 minutes past 8 in the morning, I irrevocably and unconditionally fell in love at first sight. My husband and I had waited for months for him. But all the preparations, parenting classes, books, advice (some solicited, some not so welcome) had not prepared me for the overwhelming affinity, connection, attraction---Love-- towards this tiny, helpless being staring at me with unblinking eyes. My son had just been born. He welcomed the world quietly, smacking his lips from hunger and extending his right arm towards my face, as if he instinctively knew he would be taken care of. He couldn't have been more right. Come to think of it, it wasn't just love at first sight...I had loved him even before I saw him, after all. It was love before sight.

Even now, more than a year after that experience, I am still amazed how I could hold something so precious that has such a hold on me.