Grandpa Laird

Last Saturday, my first grandchild was born—Taivyn Mae. Apparently everything went normally with this blessed event, which was anything but normal for me. Though it occurred two time zones away (in Las Vegas, where the happy parents reside), through the miracle of modern technology I had a couple jpegs of the wee one in my In Box just hours after the birth, snapped (if that’s the right word any more) on my son’s Blackberry. Sure enough, Taivyn looks just like a baby.

In the days (and years) to follow I fully expect a steady stream of photographic updates, as Taivyn begins her long and steady climb through all the hoops of developmental accomplishment, faithfully witnessed and recorded by parents with a low threshold of delight and a near-limitless supply of memory chips.

I’m very happy for my son, Ceilee, and it was a joy to connect with him just hours after the birth, while he was still blissed out—a euphoria entertainingly augmented by extreme sleep deprivation. I had hoped to visit my granddaughter in situ next month, right in front of the FIC’s Art of Community Southwest weekend (starting May 30 in Albuquerque), but it turns out that Tosca will be showing Taivyn off to her relatives in the St Louis area while I’m in the Southwest. (The little rascal will only be 30 days old and already she’s got a travel schedule that I have to adapt to—what happened to seniority?)

Plan B is to rendezvous with Tosca & Taivyn in Missouri in about a month (right before I head west), so that I can look on the child live and hold the next generation of the Sandhill gene pool in my very hands. It looks like I’ll have to wait until July to see Taivyn in Ceilee’s arms. I can hardly wait. (It brings moisture to my eyes recalling that first nap I took with my son on my belly just an hour after he was born in 1981, and I’m eager to see the love in my son’s eyes while holding his daughter.)

Happily, my wife Ma’ikwe was with me when we got the joyous news. By dint of marriage she’s now a grandmother at the tender age of 38. Although she insists she’s sprouted her first gray hairs in recent months (befitting her new appellation), I’ll be darned if I can find them and she still regularly gets carded buying wine. It’ll be fun to observe the double takes when we start introducing her as “Grandma’ikwe.”

It’ll be no problem remembering Taivyn’s birthday: it’s just one day before my wedding anniversary... the last few days have been good ones for celebrating.