#320 Newborn Nephews

We are leaving tonight to drive to Savannah to bring the baby (and the other kids) to see my parents and my grandmother. The last time we brought a newborn to see my grandmother Eric was with us.




My grandmother broke her hip the night before my oldest was born and therefore couldn’t come to see him. At 3 weeks of age he flew with us from Oklahoma to Florida to go see her. Eric came on that trip. Together we walked the streets of West Palm Beach feeling way underdressed and marveling at the prices in the high end boutiques. We ate at a restaurant by the beach and Eric wanted to bring the baby to the beach and I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t want my soft newborn’s skin marred by the sand. I would let him now. I would let him do almost anything. What’s the point of limiting such harmless experiences? What was I protecting him from? We need to gather all the experiences we can in this short life. I hate that I denied Eric the pleasure of introducing his nephew to the beach.



I’m sure this was not a big deal in Eric’s life. It gave him more ammunition to make fun of me with, and he used it well. And later, when the same nephew was about 18 months old, the only person he would walk in the sand with was Eric.



Had I known what little time he had left I would have made sure we saw him more, I wouldn’t have put off visiting him the way I did.



Still, he made an impression. Yesterday, out of the blue, my oldest told me that he missed Uncle Eric. He said nothing in particular made him think of Eric, but that Eric was the best uncle in the world. I told him that I think of Eric all the time too, and I agreed, there was no other uncle quite like Eric. No other brother either.