Happy Birthday, Son!

On a Wednesday evening 18 years ago today, Chaney Paul Swiney was born at 9:47 p.m. at West Side Hospital (now the Women's Hospital at Centennial) in Nashville. Born on his due date (which perhaps explains his predilection for punctuality), Chaney weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long. We had checked into the hospital at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening, but after waiting nine months, what's another 25 hours? Relatives on my side of the family insisted he looked "just like a Brown" and relatives on Paul's side of the family observed "you can tell he's a Swiney." 

Paul and I had not known in advance whether we were having a boy or a girl, but it was a good thing we had a boy, since we had been unable to agree on a girl's name. "Chaney" is an adaptation of the name of American gymnast Chainey Umphrey, who received his father's nickname, which the elder Umphrey earned after he defended himself in a Philadelphia street fight with - you guessed it - a chain. This is not the kind of name that has a super-spiritual meaning that can be shared at a baby dedication, but we liked it anyway. Chaney shares his middle name with both his father and grandfather - Ronny Paul Swiney, Jr., and Ronny Paul Swiney, respectively. 

The past eighteen years have flown by, but every day it has been my unparalleled joy to watch my only child mature in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and people. A mother could not ask for a better son.