If you have grown children, nostalgia has a way of slipping in every now and then, miraculously transporting you back to the days you can barely remember, like the first moment of your child’s life. Remember it – when your baby made its grand entrance amidst the outcries and exclamations? When he/she took a first breath and cried, and then you took a deep breath and quietly said, “I can’t believe we made that.”

It’s beyond words; incomparable to any other feeling you’ve ever had. It’s literally life in your hands; a life you are now responsible for. If given over to our insecurities, it could be overwhelming, even daunting – just thinking about the responsibility, but luckily, love enters the picture and an inexplicable calm mixed with a heavy dose of pure delight leaves no room for worry (there’s enough time for that later!)

Like becoming a parent, becoming a grandparent is a feeling that is incomparable to anything else; you are in a different seat now. In the blink of an eye, your baby has become a father. You can see it in the way he holds his child, and hear it in the way he talks about his child – he gets it. He understands the miracle in his hands. It is a complete removal of self.

As a new grandparent, it’s difficult to even attempt wrapping words around how you feel; your child is being transformed right before your eyes. Unconditional love is seeping from every pore of his body, and the best part is – it’s effortless. All you can and should do now is sit back and get comfortable in your new seat… take a minute to enjoy the view.

What’s been truly astonishing, and something you don’t really consider in the midst of this transformation, is how it will affect your other children. This is your first-born grandchild, so not only is it a new experience for you, but for the newly appointed aunts and uncles as well. With thousands of miles separating all of us from the new little one, we sing the praises of technology, instantly connected by Facetime, videos, and photos; it’s a luxury we couldn’t have imagined thirty years ago. For the first three weeks of his life, we barely missed a day without a hello from the new little one. Even those of us who despise group texts couldn’t get enough, and still can’t.

It’s new, it’s exciting, and in a very unforeseen way, it’s taken family bonding to a whole new level. One little life has become a gift to us all, and in the process, has changed everything. Having children takes you to a place of unconditional love, a place like no other, but watching your child take the journey can only be described by one word – priceless.

*References:

donnaestabrooks.com/