Remember Alanis Morissette’s 1996 rock anthem, Ironic? You know – the one where the lyrics are chock-full of coincidences and almost completely devoid of irony?
Still not convinced? The definition of ironic is…too difficult to explain. So I’ll use an example instead:
My sister, Kendall, for years and years would send out a family email, nine months before her birthday (June 10th), asking for a niece or nephew from her married siblings. Now, several nieces and nephews have been born on other of Kendall and my siblings’ (or spouses’) birthdays, but never on Kendall’s. So she continued the emails, until several years ago, it became apparent that for some folks in the family, some things that should be easy and natural were not, at which point she tactfully and thoughtfully stopped sending them.
So where is the irony in this situation?
Fairbanks Child #3
EDD 6/10/12
Happy Birthday, Kendall!
And because Ben and I are just that generous…
BONUS! Fairbanks Child #4
EDD 6/10/12
(No, we don't know the genders, and no, we don't know if they're identical or fraternal. But we'll find out in January.)
At this point, we should probably conclude that while getting rid of every last baby and maternity item, moving halfway across the world, and finally coming to peace with being a family of four are interesting (and somewhat unfortunate) coincidences – much like the lyrics to Alanis’s song – true irony can be deliciously sweet.
