Anyhow it is happening big style. Luna learned yesterday that she is pregnant. We are both thrilled and happy but also a bit blown away by the speed with which this has come about. We reckon Luna must literally have conceived on our wedding night, 18th October 2008. All I could say last night was "Unbelievabe"! It is, utterly unbelievable!
If Luna goes full term and brings forth into this world a beautiful baby the real significance of this will be this child was born as a result of a loving act and while I cannot claim to be absolutely certain when conception occured I was conscious and sober at the time. There would have been a time when my child would have been born as a result of a likely meaningless, lustful and alcohol fuelled act. Those poignant words of Hugh McDiarmud from A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle murmur in my ears "......mullions of wummen bring forth in pain, mullions o' bairns that are nae wurth haein....". This child is wanted today !
Luna is joking about wanting a girl; she believes the baby will be beautiful so there will be more modelling opportunities for a girl! Of course there is a real sobering side to this. Luna is 36 and this puts her statistically in the frame for the baby being born with Downs Syndrome. The doctor said we should explore the possibility of amniocentesis but having checked it out this raises the question of what are we going to do if we learn that the baby will have Downs Syndrome. We discussed it last night; there are no circumstances that we know of where termination would be an option. So if beautiful baby has Downs Syndrome it will still be a beautiful baby and we'll give it our best shot. I don't know about the statistics but I am not really interested either.
This reminds me of my anger this morning when I got one of these forwarded emails warning me that dire things would befall me if I didn't forward the email and accompanying message to at least 10 people in the ensuing three hours. I deleted it. I will not knowingly be blackmailed. And it is going to be the same with beautiful baby. We'll go with what we get.
I spoke with family and friends about news; people are so happy for us. I can't believe it, 50 and about to be a dad for the first time! Thanks be to God.
We are currently in day 1 of the 6 days of the official funeral of the late HRH Princess Galyana Vadhana, sister to the beloved King who died earlier this year. The near universal reverence and love of The Royal Family is one of the truly remarkable aspects of Thailand. I have no doubt the King is the most powerful and influential man in the kingdom and He and He alone keeps the whole show together and stops the wheels coming off altogether. Periodically He summons in the politicos and the military, knocks heads together and reminds them of their wider responsibilities to the community. Long may He continue to reign.
One remarkable feature of this funeral is that the public have been asked to dress in black for the first three days of the funeral. What is remarkable is a very sizable number of people will comply with this request. Luna and her teaching colleagues were dressed in black today, for instance. In addition bars and places of "entertainment" have been asked to close for this three day period. I must say I think it is dignified and respectful.
Meanwhile the madness goes on! This morning I saw an unhelmeted male motor bike rider with four kids on his bike, two in front, two behind. Honda Step Through as family saloon.! As I drove down from Nakhorn Pathom on the highway I saw another unhelmeted rider with two kids up going against the traffic and cutting out into the middle lane to overtake a car that was also going against the traffic. Insanity!
I guess though this is the joy of the place: the way life is so unregulated and uncontrolled.
But what a joyful 24 hours. Fatherhood looms!
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