The Obi has landed

November 9, 2009 by Ken Edelstein
Filed under: ARTS & EVENTS

Obediah Medrano Edelstain at about one week

Where have I been? Giving birth to our son — Obediah Medrano Edelstein. That’s where.

OK. If you want to get technical about, I wasn’t exactly giving birth. My wife, Silvia, was. They always give credit to the ladies, just because they’re carrying around and sustaining the little guy for eight or nine months, just because of the amazing miracle of what their bodies can do, just because they put themselves through pain that would kill most men …

But, hey, I was there to see the little booger come out. He was blue, and then he was pink, and then he was crying. And he was so, so beautiful. Still is, in fact. He gets more and more beautiful every day.

Obi also was early. He arrived just as we completed 34 weeks. In other words, he left Silvia’s comfy confines six weeks before the full nine months. Still he’s doing well.

And he’s already blogging. Think about that: How many people do you know who began blogging before they even were supposed to get out of the womb? My son: He’s very advanced.

While I was off at Northside Hospital, Jeanne Bonner — a wonderful journalist who seemingly dropped from the heavens into Atlanta — kept things brewing on this blog with her usual reporting on neighborhood livability, conversation starters, and photos of cityscapes.

But I really do wish that the city had seen fit to put off the election once Silvia and I learned that Obi would be born right before the election. Then, I could have filed posts both before and after the election.

I guess I’ll be relegated to doing that for the runoff, because unfortunately, our city leaders refuse to delay the election just because my kid was being born. Obviously, that’s an outrage. I guess that’s my first question for the candidates: Will they rectify the lack of responsiveness that caused them not to reschedule elections around significant events in my family?