What Just Came Out Of My Cousin Michelle

A BABY!!!!!

A brand-new beautiful baby boy, Tyler John. As he is my blood relative, I sit confident in the knowledge that he is gorgeous and incredibly smart. His mama is a microbiologist and his dad has a PhD. He is going to have the best science projects in the history of the planet. ("And what's your project, Tyler?" "The Death Star.")

He's the first boy in my family to be born in over thirty years. Hey, no pressure, Tyler.

'Tis strange-- today is also the day the findings of the Columbia investigative board will be released. The week we lost her, one of my best friends sent me a bouquet of flowers with the news that in nine months I was going to be an "aunt." For each sorrow, a joy.