Dear Brianna

Dear Brianna,

Hi, little one. This is the first letter your Grandma Sykes is writing to you. But I'll post it on the internet where you can read it when you're old enough to read and old enough to understand it.

Today your Mommy sent me more photos of you. She's very good about that, and, since I live so far away, I am very appreciative.

Your first bath

How I love the age of digital photos and the ability to send them by e-mail. When you are my age, how will people send messages and photos to each other? Maybe by then they will have perfected that transporter that Gene Roddenberry invented for Star Trek.

I sure could use one of those transporters myself about now. We have waited for you for so long, sweet little baby, and it's very difficult to live so far away. It takes a long time and a lot of money to get there to see you, so it may be that the only way I'll be able to feel a part of your early years is through photos and our Skype chats. I hope to come and visit at least every 6-8 weeks so I don't miss too much of your growing up, but it's not the same as being able to drop around for a cup of coffee or to babysit so your Mommy and Daddy can go out for a couple of hours. I am jealous of your other grandma and your Great Aunt Alice Nan, who get to see you all the time.

It's a scary world, Bri. Today I watched a man named General Petraeus try to convince the congress (those are the people who are supposed to help run the country, but right now we have a guy in the White House who...well, you're too young to hear about stuff like this. Trust me. You wouldn't like this guy and you'd be frustrated too!)...Anyway, General Petraeus is trying to let Congress know why it's a really good idea for us to send lots of other young people to be killed in Iraq and why we should spend billions of dollars on a rich country when so many of our people are having such a hard time in this country.

I hope they have solved some of these problems by the time you get older, Bri. I never thought much about the world my grandchildren would inherit because I didn't have any grandchildren, but now it seems more important to me that we keep the world safe for you and all of the friends you are going to start making very soon.

I worry about the planet and what will happen to it. There are so many amazing things to see in this world, dear little Brianna, and so many of them are in danger of disappearing. These animals are polar bears.

They say that there is a chance that by the time you are grown up, these animals won't exist any more. Wouldn't that be a terrible thing? But if people don't start taking the condition of the world seriously, we may lose not only beautiful animals like this, but other things that I have taken for granted all of my life.

There are so many beautiful things in the world for you to discover, sweet baby. You've missed watching the world spring to life after a long winter this year. Instead you sprang to life, which was an even more beautiful thing. But next year you can watch blossoms popping out on the trees. This summer you can watch your Daddy pick avocados off your own tree and maybe your Mommy will mash some up for you. Baby guacamole. You don't know about guacamole yet. There is a whole world of goodness out there for you to learn about. (I'll tell you about margaritas when you are a lot older!)

You are so lucky, little girl, to have been born to parents who love you so much and who have done everything they possibly can to ensure that you are going to have the very best life you can have. So many people love you already, little girl, and I hope that you always grow up surrounded by love and knowing how special you are.

You'll find out, as you get older, that I like to write and I hope to write you notes like this from time to time. It will be a very long time before you are able to read them, and an even longer time before you'll understand what the heck your crazy grandmother was talking about, but I hope that some day you'll understand why it's important to me to write to you now, so that I establish a relationship right away that we can both grow into.

We will get to see you for the first time this week, sweet baby. I can't wait!

Love,

Grandma Sykes, the younger

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Tip of the Day: I just discovered an absolutely delightful blog called The Fretting Zoo. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.

And I hope everyone has checked out my friend Sian's blog. She is a delightful writer--and how often do you get to read something written by someone with a lighthouse in her back yard?