Gee Gee

The group of people waiting anxiously in the hospital room that day years ago could not see the angel among them, but her presence was certain, almost palpable. She was mother to three of those in the group, wife to one, mother-in-law to a nervous husband holding the hand of her daughter, and was soon to be grandmother to a baby girl about to depart her home in the womb for nine months and go to an earthly home filled with loving care and tenderness. Everyone in the room was excited, but none more so than the invisible one whose name was Gail Reed, known to all by her nickname: Gee Gee. Finally, the long-awaited moment arrived. A nurse entered the room and announced, “All right, dear, the doctor is ready for you.” She helped Annabelle, the youngest of Gee Gee’s three daughters, onto a gurney. Her sisters, husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and father kissed her, wished her Godspeed, and wiped away tears as the beautiful young woman was wheeled away to undergo a Caesarian Section.

Everyone was relieved that this birth would be far different from the previous one — a hard, agonizing ordeal during which Annabelle endured many long hours of painful labor, trying with all her might but unable to give birth naturally. Finally, she reluctantly agreed to undergo surgical delivery, and named the newborn son Hollis, in honor of a great grandfather, an Army Ranger who suffered torture and starvation for several years in a German prison camp during World War II. For this second birth, she was smiling, calm, confident, and ready. After the required stay in recovery while everybody, including the invisible one, waited eagerly for the young mother to rejoin them, Annabelle was rolled back into the room, cradling in her arms the most beautiful baby girl in the world. Tears, cheers, hugs, and prayers of thanksgiving filled the room, and everyone knew who was happiest of all: Gee Gee, the invisible angel, now a proud grandmother for the fifth time. Gee Gee departed this earth for her eternal existence in the Lord’s embrace three years before the new baby’s arrival. With great courage, she had fought cancer for almost ten years, enduring relentless pain, long hours of chemotherapy, loss of her hair, and debilitating weakness before the disease metastasized, spread to her vital organs, and ended her life. Her passing greatly grieved family and countless friends who filled the church for the memorial service. The proud new parents, Ken and Annabelle, named the baby Grace Gillespie Ibsen. Grace is also the name of a great aunt whose stunning good looks attracted the attention of professional football scouts when she was a college cheerleader. They made her an offer to join the Dallas Cowboy football team’s cheerleading squad, and she accepted. Gillespie is the invisible grandmother’s maiden name. Not a soul in the room had any doubt about what this newborn baby girl would be called — the same nickname as the invisible grandmother’s: Gee Gee.