Note from Grandpa Jeffries

Dearest Embreu,

When you first join us on the surface of this somewhat troubled planet, know that you will be greeted by many people with hugs and kisses, and all of us will want to cuddle you. All of us will love you, too.

Since I am the father of your mother, I have some experience with babies your size. I also have experience being the husband of a pregnant wife. While your Mommy and Daddy are learning day by day with you, all four of your grandparents know the joy of a baby growing inside the womb of their mother. All four of us love you more than you can imagine, my dear grandchild. So, to help you, I will try and help your parents become parents, and thus make your way through this world a little easier.

Your mother will get a little anxious because the time during your period inside of her goes oh so very slow (or so it SEEMS). Her body will change, her sleeping habits will change, and her hormones will deal your Daddy fits at times. They have been a family for a long time, but you, my dear child, will make them a true family. I know that you have been good to your mother thus far, and she is grateful for that. As you grow, she grows. Her body will get larger and perhaps she will feel that she is a little less attractive to your Daddy because of her larger body. I will now tell you and your Mommy, that your Daddy will love the "larger Mommy" because he already loves you both so very, very much. It is such an exciting time for all of your grandparents and aunts, but to your parents you will help prove the existence of God -- because you truly ARE a miracle. One little cell gets fertalized and from that one little cell come Nobel prize winners, Pulitzer prize winners, great leaders, great educators and great theologians. More importantly, though, is from that one cell provided by your mother and enhanced by your father, comes a brand new human. A brand new human! Imagine! Knowing the intellect of your parents, their love for one another, their absolute joy in their marriage and their creativity of you, you will be doubly blessed. Because of their love for one another, and because of the way they were raised by their parents, you iwll know love and acceptance your entire life.

Your father will get a little anxious, too, and no matter how much your Mommy tries to make him actually feel the experience of her pregnancy with you, he will feel a little on the outside of it all. His daily life has only changed slightly, he has a baby growing inside of his wife, but he, himself goes through no hormonal change or body changes as she does. So, besides watching his wife get larger as you get larger, he doesn't experience the essence of pregnancy, that it, until you grow large enough to start moving in the womb. The first time he puts his hand on your Mommy's belly and feels you push out with your little hands and little feet, he will glow. The reality of you is then physically present to him. I remember 30 years ago when my young wife was carrying your Mommy inside of her. At night, when we were in bed, she would push her belly against my back and I could feel your little Mommy pushing against me, trying to get comfortable inside her increasingly smaller space. It made me misty eyed when I felt your mother. And the same will happen to your Daddy.

So, the time for all of you will seem to go very slowly. I will share one thing with you that your Mommy and Daddy can look forward to. That wait is seemingly long, but the reward for this wait is tremendous. When your mother was first born, literally seconds after she was born, I was holding her. When I looked at my brand new baby -- a product of the love between your Grandmother and me -- it was like seeing the face of God. I cried my eyes out with joy, with pure, unabashed joy.

So, dear Embreu, when your Mommy and Daddy first hold you, the torrents of emotion they have felt for you, and for each other, will surface like a tidal wave. From that moment, they will know what true love is. From that moment, they will love you more than they have ever loved anyone else in their lives. From that moment, they will continue to love you in that exact same way for always.

Ready to go camping with me and Grandma?

I love you.
Grandpa Jeffries