Commentary: A family comes full circle

A dream is a wish your heart makes

When you're fast asleep

In dreams you will lose your heartache

Whatever you wish for, you keep.

- from the Walt Disney film "Cinderella"

By Hannah Dougherty Campbell

Sitting by the pool at the Maine Inn, my tears were as salty as the sea around me, I turned to my husband Mike and said, "You know, if Marc hadn't died, we wouldn't be here. We'd be home taking care of our new baby."

My uncle had suggested the getaway for us, the grieving couple. Our baby boy, Marc was stillborn at six months in 1987.

We returned home to our three youngsters, Tara, Patrick, and Andrew and life began again, albeit not ever to be the same without the little one in his crib. Not long after, a miracle occurred: I became pregnant.

My joy was tinged with worry that this baby might end up with the Trisomy 13 genetic disorder that took Marc. My fears were unfounded. With tremendous relief and happiness, we welcomed Daniel in 1988. It was bittersweet for us. We realized that if Marc hadn't died, Daniel might not have come.

And soon we were back to Maine with our Daniel in our arms. I cuddled him by the porch's corner, out of the sun and heavy wind. He was a peaceful angel who never made a whimper in a restaurant or woke the other guests with crying at night. How other guests fawned over the little one, the miracle. Marc's little brother. I walked down to the pool and gazed at my spot from the year before, the spot of pain and sorrow. What a difference time makes.

Not long after, our children came with us to this vacation spot, splashing in the saltwater pool, kayaking in the harbor, searching for seaglass, walking to the general store for bags of candy.

They loved the island life of freedom, fishing, staying in a real log cabin and playing hide and seek - until the teenage years. Then they hated Maine. It was boring, with its rocking chairs and old people. Their freedom began with rentals at the Shore with buddies, away from parental controls, walking the boardwalks, amusement rides - fun!

They swore they'd never return to Maine, and my memories of us all together were tempered with a wish, a dream that one day I'd hold a grandchild on the place where I'd once found peace - on the porch of the Maine Inn.

It wasn't long before there were engagements, marriages, and babies. But how would we get those infants to Maine when their parents hated it? Still, our lives as senior citizens are full, with many blessings. Yes, it was a little sad to be more than eight hours away from our five little boys whose parents had to lug so much stuff in the car just for a trip to our house that I wondered how we did it with four kids.

In May, my friend Nancy and I did our "girls" week at the inn. One morning, my sleep was disturbed when I heard snickering and whispers. When I opened my eyes it was if a vision, a dream come true, stood before me.

There were Patrick and Daniel, and Dan's lovely wife Stephanie, and their children, Ben, 4, and Jimmy, 1. I couldn't believe they had driven so far to see me.

"Mom-Mom, we came to surprise you!" Ben exclaimed as I grabbed him and rolled him in my arms. During that visit, he picked a heart-shaped stone from the beach for me and gabbed about Cindy Lou, the mini-pony at the general store.

We took so many pictures of that week, by lobster traps, in the dining room at breakfast. But we also reenacted the shots taken when I held baby Dan in my arms on the porch long, long ago. We'd come full circle.

Hannah Dougherty Campbell is a writer in Havertown. hannahdcampbell@hotmail.com