On hoops and an unexpected delivery - Ella is born
Often times, events don't happen as planned

It's only on the rarest of occasions, however, that those unplanned happenings turn out to be among the most memorable of life's experiences.

Watching the Fowler basketball team play in the Class D state championship March 23 was one of those times - not because of the game, but due to my location at tip-off. My front row seat was not along press row at the Breslin Center as I had intended - it was in front of a television in the waiting room of the maternity wing at Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey.

It was about two hours after Fowler came up short in its bid for the title on the 50th anniversary of the '52 club's championship that little Ella Chaudier Gaffney entered this world - nearly five weeks earlier than scheduled, but baby-doll perfect in every respect.

Weighing just 4 pounds 10.6 ounces and measuring 16.5 inches, Ella has a lot of growing to do before she picks up a basketball and shoots hoops with her mom and dad, Karrie Chaudier and Aaron Gaffney - but that's only a matter of time. It will happen, of that I have no doubt.

Her paternal grandpa, Dave Gaffney, was positive that she would emerge before time expired in the Class C championship game on Saturday. It was 47 years ago on the same weekend that Ella's great-grandfather, John Gaffney, led the Houghton Gremlins to a state title.

Given that fact, and Ella's UP bloodline - Grandpa Joe and Grandma Doris (Chaudier) hail from L'anse, south of Houghton on the shores of the Keweenaw Bay - her unexpected debut on state finals weekend almost seems like destiny. She knew when she wanted to arrive, even if no one else did.

To say her parents were surprised by her timing would be the ultimate understatement. The doctor had assured them just a few days earlier that all was well - the baby had not turned yet and all signs pointed to an on-time routine delivery in late April.

Ella must have laughed at that miscalculation.

Aaron and Karrie haven't missed finals weekend in a good number of years, and since Grandma Doris had already planned on spending time at their home in Charlevoix, Aaron decided to make a quick trip down-state on Friday night to go to the Class D and C games the following day.

Less than a half-hour after he arrived here, a frantic Karrie was on the phone saying words he certainly didn’t expect to hear: "My water broke - my mom's taking me to the hospital - please come home!"

A wild ride up north followed. We made it from Forest Hill Road in Riley to Petoskey in just over two hours - nearly impossible, unless your wife is having a baby, that is.

As it turned out, the new dad got there in plenty of time for the delivery that took place at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday - it was a long night for the anxious parents to say the least, just as it is for all other moms and dads expecting their first-born child.

Like those other parents, the wait, sleeplessness - even the pains of labor - were soon forgotten when they finally held Ella in their arms. The birth of a child is the most joyous occasion of all, and she is proof positive of that old saying.

She's a true treasure with her perfect little nose, dark hair, and rosy cheeks - a miracle with a birthday that none of us will soon forget. And, if her life unfolds as extraordinarily as it began, Ella is going to give Mom and Dad plenty of memorable moments in future years.