It's incredible what is available to watch on the internet. I saw a giraffe being born, something I have no business being witness to, had the mother been able to hide in the brush. But there she was, with a slew of rubberneckers munching popcorn while she endured the uncertainty and pain of labor. At first I wondered where the zoo staff were, and why they were not more hands on in her time of need. Then I realized they were amongst the crowd, and peeking around the corner, watching and maybe even praying.

The mother paced as the first two legs dangled from her body, and I expected her to lie down. But she kept walking, and then as the moment came she lowered herself to shorten the six foot drop to the ground. In one motion the newborn slid with a thunk to the dirt. My computer has no sound so I can't say whether the onlookers cheered or gasped, but I did. The spindly baby giraffe lay unmoving, and I wished someone would pick her up. Then the mama began to lick her, and nudge her to her feet. Her baby tried, and fell, and tried and fell, and I wanted to reach into the screen and hold her the way I held my Silkies this morning. It felt like a cruel expectation, that in the first minutes of life this small, well, no, big baby was forced to stand on her own.

But she did.

The other day I met with a young couple who are wobbling. The demands of life are thrashing them with the unrelenting needs of two children and jobs that are stuck in high gear. I wish I could somehow slip them three hours of sleep, from the uninterrupted nights I enjoyed all week. But life is telling them to get up and walk, even after a pounding fall.

I have never offered to do their dishes, or run a load of towels. But I do watch from around the corner, and pray for them. And I cheer when they get up again.