The Story of John

Once upon a time, there were two brave carpenters who were both named John. They did not know each other, but they both lived in distant lands of ice and snow. One land was called Sweden and the other was called Estonia, and they were just across the Baltic Sea from each other. This picture shows the Estonian island called Saarema where the Estonian John lived.

The two carpenters both had golden hair and worked very hard. One day, the two brave carpenters both thought to themselves, "I want to go away across the big ocean, and live in America, and have a family." So, that is what they did. Some time later, they both had beautiful little daughters. And some time later, the daughter of the Swedish John had a little boy named Martin, and the daughter of the Estonian John had a little girl named Barbara. And they grew up and got bigger. And they were happy that their grandfathers were carpenters named John from the lands of ice and snow.

This is what Barbara and Martin looked like when they grew up. This picture shows when they went back to see where the two carpenters named John had lived when they were little. That is the Baltic Sea behind them, frozen over solid with ice, along with an Estonian ferry boat. Some Estonians walk across the ice, but Martin and Barbara decided to ride the ferry boat. And this was when they decided that they wanted a family too. Maybe the ice and snow makes everybody want to go across the ocean and have a family.

Anyway, they went back to America, where they lived in Houston, Texas. And they packed everything up and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. And they worked hard too, but they were librarians, not carpenters. And they kept thinking, we want a little baby. And then one day they found out that they were going to have a little baby!

Barbara and Martin were very happy when they found out they were going to have a baby. The baby grew and grew in Barbara's tummy. Finally one day when Barbara and Martin went to the doctor's office for a checkup the doctor said it was time for the baby to come and they needed to go to the hospital.

Martin and Barbara were happy their baby was coming! They waited in the hospital for the baby to come. Barbara even did some work on the computer while she was waiting!

The doctor said they would use a machine to listen to the baby's heartbeat until the baby was ready to come out. Martin watched the machine for a long time while Barbara took a nap.

This is what the machine looked like. A long tape came out of it, very slowly. The tape had scribbles on it. The scribbles would tell Martin when the baby was coming. Martin kept watching the tape come out very slowly. It was very, very quiet.

Finally the baby decided to come. Martin told the doctors and nurse to come back to see the baby.

And then the baby came! This was what the baby looked like when he showed up.

The baby was a little boy! The first thing that the baby saw was Martin smiling at him. Martin was surprised at how big the baby was. He weighed almost nine pounds! The baby looks like he is crying, but he was just breathing quietly. He was very glad to get some fresh air.

Martin thought he was a great baby!

Barbara was awake now, and she was very, very happy to see her baby. She said, "My baby, my baby!" She held him in her arms and smiled.

The baby was a very good baby. He was big and strong and didn't cry very much. He was happy to be there. And he wanted to know what his name would be.

"Hmm, what should we name him?" thought Barbara and Martin. They thought and thought. Naming a baby is a very important thing to do. You have to think very carefully before you give him a name.

Then they said,"We know what to name him! Because our grandfathers were carpenters named John from the lands of ice and snow, we will call him John. We loved our grandfathers from Sweden and Estonia, and they loved us. They were both carpenters and they both came from the lands of ice and snow. And they were both named John! So we will call our baby John!"

And that is what they did. They called him John. And they were all very happy.

The little baby named John ate lots of food and got bigger after a while.

This is what he looks like now.

John still has a little bit of blond hair like his grandfathers from the lands of ice and snow.

He is happy and likes to play with his friends at school!

Some time later, Martin and Barbara had another baby.

This baby was a little girl named Eleanor (they called her Ellie).

And they all moved to a new house.

But, that is another story....

THE END