My daughter, Ella May, was born on October 23rd at 3:38 AM.

She was born in the same room in Vermont as her brother, with the same midwife and nurse attending, at the same hour of the day. I stood in the same exact spot, holding my wife in exactly the same way.

Certainly, I’ve never anything more miraculous than witnessing my children entering the world.

I won’t attempt to describe it, other than to say it’s completely wild and I highly recommend the experience.

I took the photo above at 4:02 AM.

Ella emerged from my wife’s body 24 minutes earlier, with nothing stronger than two sips of ginger ale running through her veins.

The admiration I have for my wife? Can’t begin to touch that with words, either.

As the saying goes, a good picture conveys powerful ideas much more efficiently than words.

Every time I look at the photo above, I feel a surge of goodness, perhaps something close to pride, wash through me.

When I reflect upon it, I am proud of what I’ve created in my life on many, many fronts…

I am especially proud of the look on Karin’s face in this photograph.

To me, it reflects how we choose to live our lives together.

To me, it reflects how we deliberately create our experiences together.

To me, it reflects how we do things according to our preferences.

To me, it reflects how wonderful this life experience is meant to be.

I was thinking that this was my favorite photo, but then I remembered…

… I have two favorite photos.