fighting damien

This is one of the photos that Casey and Rick used to announce to friends and family they are expecting.

There is wonderful news on the horizon for the Aldridge-Reed family. Casey, my third daughter, and her husband, Rick, are expecting their first child on March 7, 2014. That day is also Patti’s birthday.

This will be my fourth grandchild and the first one for Patti and me. We are very excited for Casey and Rick. Of course, every child is special, including the three who precede this baby for me.

Since Casey and Rick first told us the good news, Patti and I have gotten a bit refreshed with some aspects of parenting — like looking at cribs, onesies, finding out what people do for diapers these days. Plus, there are the car seats, changing tables, strollers and “prams.” Just today, Patti and I were walking in downtown Buda, and we saw an old-fashioned English pram for sale. We looked up and down the sidewalk to see if Julie Andrews was going to walk around the corner and try to sell us this pram, it was very English. It was dark, uh, excuse me, British blue and even had a safety seat for extra protection plus over-sized English-style tires/wheels that were like the old English bikes — narrow but sturdy when full.

Rick and Casey are thrilled with the beauty of a new baby in early March.

Patti and I have given thanks that we’re not the parents, but grandparents. And, that’s as it should be.

As humans, we can have our breaths taken away by that stroll on an autumn day underneath a canopy of trees exploding with red, orange, brown and yellow leaves. Or sitting on the rim of the Grand Canyon and watching a beautiful sunset that captures and holds your attention and sprinkles a rainbow of luminescent color that showers you from overhead.

Those are beautiful moments and ones we should always treasure for their randomness, but next year there will be green leaves on those trees on that path and the next time you visit the Grand Canyon, it may be overcast.

But the beauty that comes with the birth of a child is forever. For years, Patti has entertained me with the theory that God makes babies smell so good, until they are two, by then you have bonded with them and wouldn’t dare give or chase them away … until they are in their late teens and they are messy and begin to stink. Then, you know they are ready to leave the nest.

Casey and Rick are already showing those signs of appreciating the beauty before the child is even born. Whenever we see Casey, she tells us where the child is in its development (the baby’s fingerprints start developing today) and then there is strong Rick, who just melts when he talks about his son or daughter.

I thank the Lord because these two are seeing the unique and forever beauty of their child, and he or she has not even graced us with his/her presence. I pray that every person who becomes a parent finds that wonderful opportunity to soak up that special beauty.