At the Nursing Home

Te Ao Hou, December 1959, Page 8

At the Nursing Home The nights had been bitterly cold, though we were kept cosy inside by the heaters, and I would often be awake for long periods, and many were the thoughts that I turned over in my mind. I had been given the option of having the baby sleep in the ward with me, and I was told that this was being done now in many hospitals to-day, and I was glad to have him near me. How peacefully he slept; I would often bend close over him to make sure that he was breathing, and it struck me how little there was between him and oblivion; what a tiny thread that separated him from that great beyond. How full my heart would be at such times, as I would gaze down upon my tiny son; mine to fondle and care for, mine to lead and guide, mine to plan and direct his early life, that he might grow strong and straight, and later take his place in the community—a rood and well balanced citizen. Many times, in the stillness of those first few nights, I murmured an ardent prayer that his life would be watched over by the all-seeing One, and that His will would be done concerning his little life, and that I might be guided to rear him with patience and foresight, and so do my part towards setting his feet on the straight and narrow path.