We Don’t Know What Lies Ahead

This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to Dallas, Texas to join in the baptism celebration of our new grandniece. As always, the visit to Dallas was too short but filled with laughter and lots of love for family.

Seeing our grandniece for the first time was breathtaking. Seeing any newborn baby is always precious, but when you witness the love shared by parents, grandparents and extended family, it’s priceless. Chandler is quite the baby girl. She wore more bows, more ruffles and more lace than I’ve ever witnessed on one baby girl. In fact, she’d be a close second place to baby Charlotte of the British Royal family.

Caught Up in the Moment

When our daughters and our grandchildren were baptized, I hate to admit it, but we never thought about what they would like and dislike as they grew up. We never thought about what books they might like to read when they grew up. We never thought about how the world would evolve over the next 15 years. Always confident of my “strategic” skill set, I’m now a little mystified I didn’t think much about our girl’s future. Reflecting back, I realized I was too interested in what was happening at the moment.

• Did I have enough food to feed our entire family at the baptism reception?
• Would our daughter(s) have a Pampers blowout during the baptism?
• How I was going to juggle work, home, and my future plans for obtaining advanced degrees?

Being in Dallas last week brought all those thoughts back and more. As I recalled our grandkids’ baptisms, I’m a little mystified I didn’t think much about our grandkids’ future either. We were thrilled with the births of our grandbabies and loved the idea that we could hold them and feed them while still being able to get a good night’s sleep. Fortunately, my husband is the true planner of our marriage, and he did think about our grandkids’ future and started accounts for each of their college educations.

Thinking About the Future

Our visit to Dallas allowed me to recall each grandchild’s baptism. I even remembered our minister asked our grandson’s parents what the heck they were feeding this chubby little baby. Now, that chubby little baby is 6’1” and still growing! My how time flies.

I wanted to offer advice to my sister-in-law, but I realized how different our lives are, even though we are close to the same age. What I went through when they were infants and what I am still going through is very different from what she’ll experience. Our grandkids got cell phones when they were in middle school, which wasn’t long ago. Our oldest grandnephew already has his own iPad. What other changes are in store for all of us?

My one bit of advice to my sister-in-law was to love her grandchildren with all her heart and do whatever she could to keep them happy. I also told her to keep herself healthy so she can play with them as long as they will let her play. Time and life are perishable. It’s best used before its expiration date.