We Are Family

Dear Byron,

Its been a while. Anyway, it was so good to see you and the rest of the family this past Thanksgiving. We sure had plenty to eat, didn't we? In this picture you are sitting behind Grandma Cheryl. And guess what you're sitting on. You probably can't. It is an old highchair that my Momma used for me way, way back when I was your age. And it was around even before that. I tell you this to remind you that our family goes back and out in many directions. And now you're a part of it.

 And we're always ready to pull you up in our arms and love you—because we love you so very much.

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the greatest season in the year, the Christmas season. Its the time when we remember that Jesus was once a little bitty baby, born in a barn or a cave used as a stable for cows and donkeys. He was born in a family very, very much poorer than ours. His Momma and Daddy couldn't even find a comfortable place to sleep the night he was born. So he was born in that barn.

All that reminds us of how much Jesus loves families and how much he loves you, Byron.

Here's a picture of you petting a goat at the zoo in Houston during this weekend. Wasn't she soft and kind though? She let you brush her with that special brush. We can't see her face, but that's your Cousin Kjerstyn holding the brush for you. By the way, she turned 13 a couple weeks back. We celebrated her birthday, along with your Uncle Patrick's, and Aunt Cassie's during the weekend. Neat. Birthdays and family time together. 

We all need families to hold us in their arms, to pick us up when we're feeling bad and to show us where to go next. And when we make mistakes, as we all do, to forgive us and show us how to get up and on the way again. You can see in the photo on the right that your Daddy and Mommy are ready to do that for you—forever. And so are the rest of us in your family. We were with you at the zoo on a bright sunny Saturday.

We're also remembering the kids that don't have families to take care of them. In her work your GGMa helps special people find families to care for those kids. You should be very proud of the work that she does. We all certainly are.

Here's a poem I found on the internet that pulls it all together.

We Are A Family

When we get together,

Good times are loud

And most times, too fattening.

Arguments are wordless

And apologies are unneeded.

New memories are made 

When we come together. 

We’re more than just friends; 

We are family. 

We love you, Byron, 

GGPa

IPhones, Birthday Parties, Three Shorts And A Long

Dear Byron,

We did it! We all got together to celebrate your first birthday. Mommy and Daddy invited a bunch of their friends and their kids. We ate hamburgers and bratwurst. We sang "Happy Birthday" to you and we each enjoyed a piece of your cake.

Speaking of cake, you had a great time messing with it. You got it all over your face and hands. It was a good thing Mommy put that bib on otherwise you soon would have had it all over your shirt as well.

Here's a picture of you with Mommy, Daddy, your two sets of grand parents, with GGMa and me on the left.

By the way, I took the picture with my iPhone. When I got home I finished up your first year book. As you'll soon learn, Apple has an application that enabled me to choose from all those pictures we took this first year and turn it into a memory book. It should be waiting for you when you arrive at our house. I sent it off by email yesterday. They wrote back at once to tell me it will be completed in less than a week.

One more thing. When GGMa and I got home the Monday after the big weekend, we went to a banquet sponsored by Pregnancy Assistance Center North. That's an organization near us that helps young parents who find they're not ready to raise a little baby like you were only a year ago. Anyway, at the banquet I won a drawing for an iPad! Yup, me. I won it and now I have another gadget. This is getting ridiculous. I can take photos with the iPad too.

All that goes to remind me again of how things have changed since I was your age way, way back in the 1930s. Sure we had cameras and radios and cars, but nothing like what you will grow up with, nothing at all. We certainly did not have anything even remotely like my iPhone, the gadget that is also called a smart phone, because it is also a computer in my pocket. And nobody even thought about an iPad or a computer and all the other stuff that's so common now.

Let me tell you about the telephone we had on our farm. It hung on the kitchen wall and looked just like this.

When we wanted to make a phone call we had two choices. We could either make the bells up on top ring by turning the handle on the right or we could click that holder on the left up and down a couple times until we got the telephone operator. Let me explain.

There were actually a bunch of people on our phone line. We knew somebody wanted to talk with us if we heard the bells ring in a certain way. Our ring was three shorts and a long. In other words, if somebody turned that handle on the right to make three short rings and then kept turning and turning it to make one long ring, we knew they wanted to talk with us. All we had to do was pick up that earpiece on the left and talk into that round mouthpiece in the middle.

Of course, any one of the people on the ten or so other farms could listen in or even join in the conversation of they wanted to. It was what they called a party line. It was a little like setting up a multiple party conversation today—sort of.

Things will keep on changing as you grow up, Byron. That's the nature of technology. I can only hope and pray that when you are an adult lots of folks will use these discoveries to help and bless others rather than hurt and destroy.

For now, those concerns are a long way into the future for you. Meanwhile, we all look forward to a good time laughing, telling stories and eating cake at your next birthday party.

Love you,

GGPa

When You Were Born

Dear Byron,

It will be a few years before you are able to read and understand what I, your parents and other members of your family are saying in the pages of this blog. But that's OK. I know you'll look back with joy to learn about us and about the long list of family members who preceded you in this world. More on that later.

For starters, I want you to know how very proud we are to welcome you into the family. And what joy you bring to each and every one of us. You are such a happy, smiling, pleasant little boy. You bless us all.

You with Mommy and Daddy at Christmas

I remember how excited your Mommy and Daddy were when they first called us to announce that you were on the way. They had been waiting and waiting. When they learned that you were being created by our Lord Jesus in your Mommy's tummy they called us on the phone. "And it's a boy!" Mommy exclaimed, bubbling with excitement. Both your Great-Grandma and I thought that was quite amazing, because when your Grandma Cheryl was being created in Great-Grandma's tummy, we did not know if our baby was to be a boy or a girl. In those days the doctors could not tell us about that in advance. So we had to wait until she was born.

And how well I remember that day. Of course, a Daddy was not allowed in the birthing room back in October, 1960 when your Grandma Cheryl was born, so I was waiting out in the hall for the nurse. She burst out to announce, "It's a girl! You have a beautiful baby daughter. And, believe it or not, she has red hair!"

I cannot tell you with words, Byron, what happiness and joy I felt at that moment. I simply do not have the words to express it. Before that the Lord Jesus gave your Great-Grandma and me two wonderful sons and we were starting to believe that our third child would be a boy as well. That was OK with us, of course, but when Great-Grandma and I learned our new baby was a girl, well, we were so happy we cried.

GMa Cheryl (1 mo.old) with your G-Uncles Jeff and Nathan 

And now, all these years later, here you are. You must ask your Mommy and Daddy about your birth. They have many photos and will be happy to tell you about their feelings as well.

As you grow up, Byron, we will share many more thoughts and ideas with you. Perhaps, when you are fully grown and begin a family of your own, you and your wife will even choose ahead for your baby to be a girl rather than a boy. That's already happening for some parents.

For now, just know that we all love you and are most excited to have you as the newest member of our family.

With love — Great-Grandpa Al