The birth of my son was such an enjoyable and humbling experience for me. My wife and I opted to stay in the hospital for 2 nights after he was born. It was nice having the nurses at our beck and call while we figured out how the hell to begin the process of parenting. Back then my family and I were on better terms than we are now. We even had a view Witness visits and one in particular will always stay with me.
My allegedly anointed uncle stopped by with his elderly mother with a third person. They had been out in field service and had chosen to take a break and see their new member of the family. As we were showing my son off my uncle and his mother brought up the topic of the "timing" of his birth. They told me that it was a shame that he had been born in "these times" and that he would have a rough road ahead of him. The elderly mother actually made light of it in a joke as she spoke in the first person, as my son awakening into the world, "No! Not in these times!"
At that point I remember feeling anger flood through me to the point where I just stopped talking for fear of something nasty coming out. Here my wife and I are embarking on the sojourn that is parenting and instead of a blessing my uncle and his mother might as well have given my son a curse. I felt like getting a broom out and shooing them out of the hospital room. Vermin!
I'm reminded of Lord of the Rings when Gandalf asks his mentor and past friend Saruman when exactly he abandoned reason for madness.
-Sab