Every parent remembers the feeling of relief and joy experienced when their child first comes into the world.
Meeting your newborn for the first time can inspire joy, tears, and wonder. For this dad in Brazil, though, the key word he felt was faith—and when it came time to take a series of photos during the delivery, the photographer was able to capture a seriously special moment for all the world to see.
Victor Calmon was in the delivery room when his wife, Luana Moraes, delivered their first child.
The family used birthing photographer Janaina Oliveira to capture their special moments, and as such had someone on hand to capture the moment that Calmon got down on his knees and prayed next to the temporary hospital bassinet with his newborn son.
“The image that represents my 2018: GRATITUDE!” wrote Oliveira, who shared a sweet snapshot of Calmon praying next to his son in the hospital’s recovery room.
Calmon added his own words, explaining that you don’t need to belong to a particular religion per se to thank God for the kind of gift that being a new dad provided:
“You do not have to go to a church, or have a religion, to have faith. God does not fail, he honors good men, even if they do not even know that he once gave his life for us on a cross, but if you are not an Indian who has never had contact with the divine word, it is your duty to bend the knees and thank, wherever you go. Thanks God!” he wrote in his own caption.
The photo series went viral as people celebrated the vulnerability and gratitude of a new dad, revealing a soulful interior underneath the stoic, masculine exterior.
The Calmon-Moraes family have been doing well, taking advantage of the long summer months in Brazil to spend time as a family of three at the beach and in the water.
“I saw myself at the center of a complicated situation, you know, and everything was new to me, and incredible fear came over me,” he said.
“So I got rid of all shame, I knelt and talked to God, I asked him to help me evolve, to be a better man, a good father, a good husband and made me want to grow, to work, to let nothing be lacking.”
