I Wonder What He'll Think?

Wonder What He’ll Think?

I’m meeting someone who is and will always be very important to me, my grandson Niko Dancer.

We’ve never met before.

He was born on August 19th, but today is our first time seeing him face-to-face.

Kathy and I talk about him a lot.

This is our first grandchild, so we’re not sure what to expect.

Oh, I know many of you have done this time after time, and you report back that it’s the best.

But how do you know until your eyes meet the eyes of someone who holds the DNA of all your ancestors, plus the makeup of his other family?

God was really smart when he came up with this whole genealogy thing.

He probably wanted a way of connecting the history of different people, along with physical, spiritual, and emotional traits, by wrapping them into one tiny package called a grandchild.

I’m a little nervous, which is odd for me.

I love meeting new people.

I have a wide berth for diversity in my life.

But this little man is carrying my DNA, my last name, and his own hopes, dreams, and wishes.

My duty as a grandparent is to make sure he has every chance to find those, but at the same time, keep my advice at arm’s length because I’m not the parent.

My job is to serve his parents, be there when he can’t talk to them, and be an old man who loves and listens.

I don’t need to parent him; I need to love him unconditionally.

I didn’t have a grandfather, so the only role model I could take from was my grandmother, who I was very close to.

In my teen years, when I was making some huge mistakes, my parents sent me off one Summer to live with my grandmother.

She gave me space but put up with none of my bullshit.

She laid down an expectation but saw me for who I would be, not who I was at the moment.

I got caught stealing some cassette tapes when I was 14 or 15.

She and my mom were both there.

When she got out of the car, tears running down her face, she said, “Ricky, I hate what you did today, but I will never stop loving you.”

Those words will never leave my memory.

Unconditional love at its finest.

I want to be that guy to Niko.

So, I will say less and listen more.

Be a sort of relief pitcher to his parents, and when they are overwhelmed, I hope Kathy and I can just be there.

No expectations, no motivation, just two old people with wrinkly skin, who can love all three of them….unconditionally.