Sagepaper

I was keeping a secret from my father: his dearest long-time friend called while Dad was out of town. He told me he had just become a Grandfather for the first time. I didn't want to pass that news on second-hand to Dad. I thought Jim should break the happy news himself.

I don't have all the baby's stats, I'll get that info from Dad. Jim has three sons, the second of whom lives in the Northeast and is now a proud father. The son and his wife walked to the hospital, and she was able to deliver a girl without anesthesia.

This hasn't been of direct relevance since I was a kid, but I was told that a woman who's middle name I bear is my Godmother (I've never seen her), and that Dad's friend, the new Grandfather is my Godfather. It's been a while since that was discussed, but my heart remembers well.

I had to spend a lot of time around Dad, though, making sure they connected by phone Saturday. I was a little stretched for a pressing reason to call, without blowing the secret. I made it sound like Jim was very distressed by his impending retirement from the Army.

The introduction and these clues were designed to be a bit misleading:

This is tough, I think my family might guess at who the secret involves. In fact, it might be hard to miss. Knowing who, though, doesn't say what. Some friends will still be entirely guessing, though.

Here are five clues, in no particular order:

A short walk
Sleeplessness
A friend from private school
Of three siblings, a brother
God-Parentage

I hoped Dad would be interested by the short walk. I hoped he wouldn't think of how a newborn keeps its parents awake. I hoped he would think of the long-time friendship between Beckey and me; we met at boarding school. Beckey has a brother and a sister. She also has fraternal triplets -- two girls and a boy. I am the Godmother of the triplets.