An Inclusive Litany

2/14/94

Neil Chethik in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 19, 1993:
I now have the opportunity to help shape a man.

The day after Thanksgiving, following a smooth pregnancy and a harrowing labor, my wife, Kelly, gave birth to an 8 1/2-pound baby boy. Because of the tense delivery, there was no sweeter sound than Evan's first healthy cry. We cheered and hugged him when it came.

But that could be the last time anyone praises him for his tears. He's a boy, after all, and the world will soon teach him that burying his emotions is part of the price of becoming a man.