My sweet Brody…when you get to be as old as your Mimmie, you might start to realize there are things you wish you’d said more intentionally to your own kids, as they were growing up, or, at the very least, you’ll wish you had said them better. I heard once that grandchildren can be a kind of “do-over.” I don’t agree with that entirely, for you are not mine to raise, day in and day out. However, because I am removed from the constancy of your daily care, I think those things that need saying can rise more easily, and with greater clarity, to the top of my heart. It’s my hope that this letter (and the ones to follow in years to come) will help make your life’s road a little easier to travel.

Hey little sugar pop,

Remember last week when you were born? No? That’s okay. You don’t remember because it was really six months ago. Today, in fact.

Half a year’s growth is what you’ve been working on, at what seems to be warp speed.

(You’ll learn about warp speed when you get a little older and the men in your life introduce you to Star Trek. Trust me; it’ll happen.)

You’ve gone from a tiny little six-pounder to a solid 16 in that time, finally learning to sleep through the night, and working on your crawling skills with fierce determination. And you do it all with a smile on your face. You’re a happy little guy, smiling big and often with dimples that have traveled through several generations of my family, to me and on to you.

(I don’t know why that thrills me so, but it does. I guess it’s a special connection between you and me, and in my book, you can’t ever have too many of those.)

Babies growing so fast has long been a kind of heartache for parents and grandparents. Not because we don’t want you to grow, because, of course, we do. We just know we won’t ever get you back at this stage where you are, and each of these stages of sweet innocence are so special that we long to hold on for just a few moments longer, even as you are working feverishly to get to the next one.

Actually, that’s really what I want to talk to you about today…that feverish drive to move forward. You see, you’re made to want to grow, to try new things and achieve new skills. That’s part of being human, and how God made you. But you’ve been born into a world that operates at, well, warp speed. It has little respect for the stages of the human mind. It cares little about what it throws at you, and whether you’re mentally and physically ready for it. It will try to convince you that you ARE ready when you’re not, and create a drive in you to be GROWN already, and forget about being your age at EVERY AGE.

Don’t be in a hurry to be grown, my boy. There are deep and wondrous pleasures enjoyed only as a child. Knowledge gained before its time chips away at your soul, and brings with it responsibility for which you are not ready or equipped to bear.

I won’t keep you. I know you’ve got some crawling to do. You probably are settling in to try a new fruit or vegetable, or thrill in another ride, like a big boy, sitting in the shopping cart. Even though it’s a little too fast for me, I know it’s right. But can we make a pact, you and me? You stay right on track for your age, and don’t run ahead, and I’ll promise to be right there beside you, teaching you and cheering you on.

That way, neither of us will miss a thing.

Gosh, your Mimmie loves you, Brody…as big as the sky.