Ten years ago this day, on January 11, 2008, Sonya "Sunny" Greenberg was born, the daughter of Mrs. Greenberg, my high school US history teacher, and her husband, Geoff.
The arrival of a new baby is usually a matter of good news, which was especially the case with little Sunny.
I met Sunny on the first day of my junior year at OPRF High School on August 22, 2007. US History was my final class of the day, during 8th period. Mrs. Greenberg was standing outside the classroom door greeting her students as they arrived for class, and she was already 5 months pregnant with Sunny.
My Grandpa José was already in declining health when I started my junior year and he passed away from this life on October 8, 2007. His passing was hard on me because we were close. I struggled with emotions of grief and sorrow, afraid of getting sucked into a hopeless hole in which there would be only the darkness of death.
In this time of sorrow, it was such a comfort to walk into my US history class each day, and see Mrs. Greenberg and Sunny with her. It was a powerful reminder that though, under God's watchful eye, life comes to an end, under the same God, life comes into our world. I didn't have to be hopeless in the face of death because I could have hope in the life entering our world.
I've written from time to time on this blog about my pro-life views. Over the years, my stance has become more articulate as I've become better acquainted with facts and figures about the harm abortion does to individuals and our society in general. But facts only go so far. It's stories that make an impact. In my life, I solidified my position against abortion when I was in middle school. But the passing of Grandpa José and the entry of Sunny into the world helped strengthen my commitment to the pro-life movement.
A baby is good news, and we should be focused on making sure that every person who is conceived is able to enter into the world and be the good news our world so desperately need. It should be absolutely unconscionable to snuff out the life of a person while in a vulnerable, helpless state, who has no way of defending him/herself against the horrors of death by abortion. Truly, we as a society need to come to our senses and shift our perspective back to where it should be.
The arrival of a baby has so much potential to make a positive impact on our world. We need to exert the effort to ensure that every child can have a chance at life, and give support to the parents who feel like they can't do it themselves. We need to stand up for the unborn and protect them against the idea that somehow they don't matter. When we care for the most helpless and vulnerable, I'm sure it will have a ripple effect in helping us care about all other people on Earth who are in need.
I realize how fitting it is that this coming Sunday is the March for Life Chicago. It's a great opportunity to take a stand for life, as I personally remember the impact of the great news of Sunny Greenberg's birth.
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