WELCOME BENJAMIN

DEAR BENJAMIN

Today you joined a wonderfully confusing family who has loved you since the moment we found out you were joining the tribe. Your Nana and I are now blessed with 6 grandchildren who have made our lives full of joy and purpose. So, we have decided to give all of you a “heads up” about life, a little advice from those who are over the hill to those who are just starting to climb it.

BELIEVE IN GOD

Understand that you are part of the world, not the purpose of it; that there is something bigger and greater than the individual. Practice the 10 Commandments and live the Golden Rule. Do that and it will make your decisions easier and keep you out of trouble.

APPRECIATE YOUR FAMILY

You have parents who would give their lives for you (they already are), aunts and uncles that love and welcome you and cousins that you can play and get in trouble with. Appreciate their differences! PJ, the stubborn “peacemaker” and helper, Paige, fiercely loyal to family and friends, Stella, a loving negotiator who can melt your heart with a smile, Piper who launches herself off the monkey bars of life, and Wes, with the best belly laugh and appreciation of living that you can imagine. Get to know them and enjoy them! Family are the only ones who love you just because you exist, they are worth putting up with!

Remember, your parents will get you upset, frustrated and drive you crazy at times and you will return that favor! You have been blessed with two sets of grandparents. Always feel free to turn to them to learn about your heritage; we will be happy to tell you some stories about how they drove us crazy!

SUCCEED AT LIFE

Count your success in those that you love, friendships that you have made and people that you have helped. Surround yourself with true friends, not the false acquaintances of Facebook. All the rest is just window dressing. Cars rust, boats depreciate and houses can collapse. Success is measured in interactions not acquisitions.

LEARN

Education comes from school; true learning comes from living. Don’t confuse them. Yes, facts and figures are important but they are only tools. Learn to fail without feeling like a failure and to achieve without arrogance.

ACCEPT YOURSELF

Realize that you aren’t and never will be perfect, but you are pretty damn good! Spend more time celebrating (and using) your strengths than worrying about your flaws.   Don’t let the opinions of others determine what you think about yourself.

DON’T HOLD A GRUDGE

You only have so much energy in life.   Don’t throw it away on negative emotions. Learn your lesson and move on.

PRACTICE GRATITUDE

You don’t realize it now, but you have been born into a world where you have more advantages than most children alive; a world in which many struggle to merely survive. Every morning, just think of 3 things that you are grateful for and then pay it back. My generation hasn’t done a very good job at that. We have gifted you with incredible technological advantages but have also left you a world where children forage in trash to eat, the elderly, unable to afford basic needs, live without dignity, and the mentally ill reside under a bridge. We don’t expect you to solve the world’s problems but you can start by helping an elderly neighbor shovel the snow, sit with a lonely kid at school, and share with the less fortunate. Small actions yield big results.

Those are some basic guidelines for all our grandchildren. Yes, you will learn that Nana has a lot of rules like “Don’t eat in the living room; Wash your hands, I don’t want sticky stuff all over the walls; one treat is enough.” Feel free to discuss that stuff with Grandad and we will figure out what we can get away with.

WELCOME BENJAMIN !!!!!!!!!!!!