AND SO IT BEGINS....

     As of Wednesday, at 12:37 p.m. Central Standard Time, I officially became a grandfather for the first time.  I have had a lot of time to try to get adjusted to that label, sometimes its comfortable, for a very long time, it wasn't.  I had previously had a "dry run" at being a grandpa due to a previous seriously wrong marital relationship, and the baby was really sweet, a lot of fun to help take care of for about 15 months.  The hardest part was constantly being referred to by the rest of the fam as "grandpa".  The adjustment just never felt right, perhaps because this child had absolutely NO genetic relationship to me whatsoever.  Of course, Ayla Jane Victoria Jackson DOES, and this time, it has been easier to accept the term, even as it acknowledges a completely different time in my life and emphasizes to me how OLD I really am......as a baby boomer struggling for immortality, its just NOT easy to accept my increasing aches and pains, occasional dementia (according to ex and girlfriend), and the certainty that the sands of my time are passing through the hourglass ever faster it seems.


     So here's to YOU Ayla Jane or maybe AJ.  In the best of all possible worlds, here is your oyster to have fun with, laugh, love, and enjoy.  With all the sadness, happiness, sorrow, excitement, troubles, grief, satisfaction, pleasure, joy and peace of mind I can pass on to you genetically.  Some of my favorite words of wisdom are contained in The Desiderata:


Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all it's sham drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
-- Max Ehrmann