In a follow-up to last week’s column — “And Still We Wait” — we’re not waiting anymore!
My grandson, Carson, was born Wednesday night at 10:33 p.m. And since I wrote about my other two grandchildren being born, I’m not about to break the tradition here.
Carson is the son of my youngest daughter, Kat, and my son-in-law, Josh. And this one’s local!
My first grandchild, Liam, now lives in Corpus Christi, TX and my granddaughter, Ella, lives in Virginia Beach, VA. We FaceTime and visit as much as we can but, I’m not gonna lie, the fact that this guy is only 15 minutes away will be cool!
So what words of wisdom do I have for Carson? It’s pretty much the lessons I’ve learned in life and what I’ve learned raising his mom and his uncles and aunt. I’ve tried to learn from my mistakes and you can bet there’ve been a few.
Once again I found myself staring at him the other day just wondering. Wondering about what he will become as he grows. All the things he will see and how the world will change over his lifetime. There’s sure been a few changes in my lifetime.
Will he be a doctor or lawyer? A landscaper or an architect like his dad? For now, let’s just be a kid and learn things and have fun.
Will he play Little League or soccer? Liam is now taking karate! I never expected that one but he likes it!
Will Carson be a Red Sox fan? Will they finally get their act together before he hits adulthood?
His father is a NASCAR fan. One year I tried to get into it. I even watched a few races with my son-in-law where he tried to explain the strategy. It was interesting but I couldn’t really get into it. Here’s hoping he likes to watch the races with his dad and enjoys camping trips to Loudon, NH with his dad and other grandpa for race weekend.
Obviously I just pray that he has a happy and healthy life. There will be plenty of challenges, scraped knees, tough tests and championship games that will be won and lost. I’ll try not to yell at the umpire when I go to watch a game. I’ve come to appreciate and respect the officials especially after I became friends with a few.
I also won’t try to analyze your game like I did with your mom and her siblings on the rides home. I’ve since learned that you won’t want to talk about it on the ride home. I’ll just tell you how much fun it is to watch you play.
“What was your thinking behind that 0-2 fastball?”
“DAD!I don’t know!”
Yeah. We don’t have to talk about that.
What kind of world will he grow up in? Wow! That’s a tough question the way things are right now. Will we continue to be so divided or will we finally realize that we have to find a way to get along? I pray for a return of decency and respect.
Maybe his generation will finally figure out what to do with social media. It started out as a great idea and then I think it just got away from us like an out-of-control freight train.
I can promise you this: Grampy will be your biggest cheerleader. You want to try a new sport? Go for it! Like a different kind of music than me? Okay! However I will still try to introduce you to the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac. I know. “That’s wicked old Grampy!”
I pray that you’re happy. Now I’m not naive enough to think everyday will always be rainbows and butterflies but I’ll always listen whenever you need to vent.
I also pray that the good Lord lets me be a part of your life for as long as possible. Grampy can no longer get down on the floor to play but we can find other ways to have fun. And when you’re tired from running and playing all day I will always have a hug ready and a place on my lap to chill out for story time or the newest episode of Bluey.
Welcome to the world buddy! I can’t wait to see what you do!
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