Dear Kaylee,

 

Grandma and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary this weekend. Your Grandma is beautiful and smart and strong and good, but I will let you in on a little secret. One of the main reasons I asked your grandma to be my wife is because I thought she would be a great mommy. Guess what? I was right! Your grandma is an amazing mommy and you’ll really get to know this because your mommy learned how to be a mommy mainly from grandma.

 

We learn most of what we know from modeling when it comes to being a mommy and daddy. That’s a fancy way of saying we watch our mommy’s and daddy’s and we learn from them. Well, what Grandma learned from her mommy, your Great-Grandma Lindgren, she has passed down to your mommy, and now you get to enjoy the blessing, because Great-Grandma Lindgren wasn’t just Great-Grandma she was a great model!

 

We don’t pass down everything, though…We leave behind things that aren’t helpful. When your Uncle Greg and Uncle David get married some day, there will be some things I don’t want them to model from me. Sometimes I have said things that are not nice to your grandma. Over the years I have learned to not do that as much, and I always say I’m sorry, but your uncles will be better at this because I never hid from them when I said, “I’m sorry to Grandma,” and she didn’t hide saying, “I forgive you.”

 

You see Kaylee, moms and dad argue sometimes and children see this, so when mommy’s and daddy’s don’t apologize in front of their children, as well, the children never learn about saying, “I’m sorry,” and “I forgive you.” All they see is their mommy’s and daddy’s are arguing and that’s scary by itself. Uncle Greg and Uncle David will be better husbands because they saw their daddy is not perfect but he doesn’t try to hide that fact.

 

I have to admit something Kaylee. The best part of our anniversary was seeing you. Spending time with you and watching your mommy and daddy with you. Already I like to watch your mommy and daddy look at you. They have messages in their eyes that say you are beautiful, you are loved, you are precious, you bring them joy, you fill them with wonder, you are their little Kaylee. Someone once said, “The eyes are windows to the soul,” and Kaylee, when I look at your mommy and daddy’s eyes look at you, I can tell you that they love you- with all their soul.

 

That’s just how God wants it…

 

Love,

 

Grandpa