Times change… or do they?

Maternity Waiting Room - Norman Rockwell, 1946

Sitting here in the “Family Lounge” at Lourdes Hospital, the Norman Rockwell painting harkens back to another time… another sensibility.  Or does it?

Our daughter arrived here yesterday afternoon–full term and ready to deliver… almost.  An afternoon of false starts… a night of waiting… and now the blessed moment appears to be much closer at hand.

The pedestal mounted ashtray to the right of the sofa in the painting captures my attention.  Hmmm… a bit of nicotine while the gentlemen waiting in varying states of bordem, anxiety or detached “being”.  No ashtrays here:  pedestal mounted has been replaced with a hutch mounted color TV–an environmentally acceptable “nicotene” to pass the time.

Delivery rooms have given way to birthing rooms, but the waiting… hoping… praying for a healthy child and a young mother braced for the full fury of childrearing–none of these have changed.  Rockwell’s Maternity Waiting Room was populated with fathers.  Today, it’s grandparents, friends and others “staffing” the lounge.  Still waiting in varying stages of bordem, anxiety and, like me, tethered to the cyber-community… sharing a moment far different than the ones from a lifetime ago when our own children entered this world.

Ashtray on a pedestal stand…  Wi-Fi on an iPod.  Doesn’t really matter!  Still just mother and child:  showcasing God’s creative genius one more time…