What an April. I'm thrilled our granddaughter is here and safe, and her Mom is safe too. I'm also thrilled to be vaccinated so we can all be together.
Days in this new phase brim with emotions, some that spill over randomly. Friends, it's normal to weep unpredictably for a few moments now and then, and here and there, right? Who hasn't done that this past year? Amidst the anxiety we've all haphazardly managed since 2020 began, my very fortunate secret for much of it was a baby girl. So I tried to match my perseverance to hers.
And now, she's here, and I'm grateful to do this again (for the first time). You see I like to think I have a youthful mindset, a heart that never quite grew up, thus fathering my own children meant the opportunity to relive my own youth, and now my granddaughter provides another opportunity to see the world reborn again. As a father, there were many wonderful experiences, but I also made all the mistakes and therefore must own all those regrets...but being a grandfather...? I'm going to fucking ace this.
It's time for a world reborn. Social change is inevitable and seems to be accelerating. Many political leaders told us "we're in this together," and then went on vacation. The irony is that this notion has never been more true, and yet aspiring to achieve it cracked open reality and exposed the manufactured gaps between us, gaps that make us all vulnerable. Undoubtedly, a new generation is burgeoning, and these pandemic babies deserve a healthier, safer, more just, and more compassionate world.
Like my daughter, my Grandmother knitted too: slippers, and mittens, and scarves. She tried to teach me, but it was too hard. When her mother teaches her to knit, my grandchild will need more resilience than I had. So as I begin this newest opportunity to discover the world again, this is what she has already taught me.
