7| The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,A ugust 16,2018 theifp.ca • Truck Accessories • Upholstery • Heavy Equipment Glass •Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1655 Wehandleall insurance work. We handle all insurance work. • your window & door professionals • 11 Mountainview Rd., N. Georgetown, ON L7G 4T3 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca • awarded readers choice 27 times • Visit our showroom Furnace Air Conditioning Gaslines Boilers Water Heaters Radiant Heating 905-877-3100 proud local dealer of Canadian made products .ca GEORGETOWN - Once we become seniors, there seems to be fewer things to look forward to. We wake up in the morn- ing and our first task is to identify those parts of the body that ache, and then, we try to isolate the ones that don't so we can have a positive item to focus on. Having said that, we do have one thing that is al- ways a welcome event. More grandchildren. And I'm the proud grandpa of yet another one - a little girl. Atlee Catherine Ed- wards arrived in the wee hours of Aug. 3, weighing in at six pounds, 11 ounces, to the delight of proud parents Maggie and Jeff Edwards, and big brother Oliver. She's grandchild num- ber five for my side of the house. Maggie had been having a few twinges days before, and went to her doctor Aug. 2, just in case things were happening. "All seems good," the doctor said before sending her home. Later in the afternoon, I dropped by to see her for moral support, and she opened the door with "Dad, my water just broke." Having been there for the birth of my four daugh- ters, I knew the drill - as a parent. However, I wasn't sure of the protocol for a grandchild's arrival. Do I offer to take her to the hospital? Do I call 911? Do I sit back and wait for in- structions? Seems the last is the cor- rect answer. "Jeff is on his way home," Maggie calmly said. "He's taking me to the hospital." OK. I was back to offer- ing moral support. Jeff arrived home, load- ed Maggie in the car and they beat a path to Milton District Hospital. "You're not dilated," the medical staff said. "Go home and come back when your contractions are clos- er together." That wasn't the answer Maggie was looking for. She called me to say they were back home but would be returning to the hospital later that night. "One thing is certain, Dad," she said. "There will be a baby born tonight." Maggie assured me she and Jeff would let us know whenever anything hap- pened. The Sidekick and I watched TV, looked at the clock, watched more TV, watched the clock a bit more and finally decided to call it a night at 11 p.m. I woke at 4:30 a.m., rolled over and dozed a bit until I couldn't wait any longer. At 5:20 a.m., I went downstairs to check for messages on my smart- phone. The text message said it all: "Atlee Catherine Ed- wards, 6 lb, 11 oz, born at 4:31 a.m." Attached to the message were a slew of photos of wee Atlee, in various poses, all sorts of pictures show- ing the tiny baby, only a few minutes old. It was precious. I felt so happy for Mag- gie and Jeff, as they en- joyed a relatively straight- forward birth. Three years ago, Oliver arrived five weeks early. He did so on the hottest day of the summer, the same day Maggie and Jeff took pos- session of their new house, and were in the process of moving in. Oh, and did I mention that the air conditioning in the new house refused to start that day as well? Sur- prise, surprise. Well, Atlee arrived with- out a hitch, and now Mr. Ol- iver has a little sister to love and play with. He seemed pretty impressed with her when the two sib- lings were introduced. And now I once again sit back and watch as my daughters' families grow, and feel a sense of warm, fuzzy pride. There might not be as many things to look for- ward to as we age, but when it's a grandchild, well, it makes up for the other things. Welcome to the family, dear little Atlee. May you bring much happiness to us all. Ted Brown is a free- lance columnist for the IFP. He can be reached at tedbit@hotmail.com. GRANDCHILD NUMBER 5: WELCOME ABOARD OPINION LITTLE ATLEE WEIGHS IN AT 6 POUNDS, 11 OUNCES, WRITES BROWN TED BROWN Column THE WAY WE WERE In 1912, three young men from Guelph who had acquired a practical knowledge of moulding began the Georgetown Foundry Company. C. Young, E. Seifreid and R. McCuaig purchased the ruins of a knitting factory that had been destroyed by fire several years before and had it rebuilt and fitted up as a foundry. The building was conveniently located near the railway station, and operated in Georgetown until 1977. - Submitted by Heritage Halton Hills Esquesing Historical Society photo