A New Grandpa Speaks

The life cycle has been completed and its a miracle

I am now a grandfather, expanding my family by one. This experience is accompanied by a sense of completion in the story of life that is not given to everyone. To say I am grateful, honoured, humbled, etc., is to understate the significance of this miraculous gift.

I was informed of this miracle at 2 a.m. with the warble of a text message. My sleep was light after I went to bed, hoping for this moment.

“Are you awake?” was the message, and as I fumbled for the phone, my glasses, and the bedside lamp, I was momentarily concerned that this might not be good news. Thankfully, I was wrong. My response was merely, “Yes.”

“It’s a girl!” was the immediate reply, along with pictures of the brand new life that had entered our lives.

Joy…relief…gratitude…reverence…love…

All these flooded my heart in a cascade of reactions, with gratitude dominating, followed by quiet reverence. This event had been increasingly unlikely for my family. The details are too personal, but suffice it to say that there were obstacles to this child being born. I had come to accept that this event may never happen and had made my peace with it. As my wife has taught me many times, some things are meant to be; some are not. This one appeared not to be. I was thankfully wrong.

Becoming a grandparent is a completion. It can only happen for the first time once in a lifetime, and I have now been privileged to experience it. Yes, one can potentially become a great-grandparent, which adds another generation to the mix. But one’s child having a child generates a feeling of the cycle being completed. Anything after that is a repetition, although special in its own way. But the first happens just once.

It creates new grandparents for both the new Mom and Dad, new uncles, aunts, cousins, and a larger family. This most important social unit is increasingly sidelined in our culture, and the arrival of my granddaughter enhances my sense of its value.

We are offered a sense of the future. Birthdays, holidays, and other gatherings will include this new little life, giving them all new meaning. We can think about who this new person might become in the world; we can ponder new friendships, educational experiences, and career choices. Many things that have come and gone for us, we may get to experience again. It is an exciting prospect!

Aging has many drawbacks, given its inevitable decline. So, becoming a grandparent provides new meaning and purpose in this time of life. There is a brand new generation in my life now, and I hope to share some of the lessons I’ve learned.

Upon hearing this wonderful news, I sat with my wife around 2:30 a.m., saying, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Who I am thanking is a mystery, but I find that the impulse to gratitude feels best expressed when it’s personalized.

So to whatever powers or combination of circumstances may exist that made this moment possible, I offer…

---