Dear Makiya

Dear Makiya
Today you are eight months old! How quickly the time has gone since that cold wintery night when you were born. I will aways remember that early morning phone call from your Mommy telling me that your Daddy was taking her to the hospital and that it was finally time for you to be born. She was was excited, tired and just a little bit afraid that morning as she realized that the long months, even years, of waiting were about to be over.
As soon as I got off the phone with your Mommy, we prayed for you, I did a little "Grandma Dance" and then I hurried upstairs to make travel arrangements. I couldn't wait to meet you!
It was late that night when you were born. I will never forget your Dad coming down the hall with the biggest smile on his face saying "It's a girl, and she's beautiful!". You were, and are, beautiful indeed! There was nothing that could have prepared me for the joy that I felt when I held you for the first time.
Over the past eight months I have been filled with pride as I have watched my daughter become your Mommy. I love to see her snuggling with you and making funny faces to make you laugh. Sometimes I look at your precious face and for an instant I am taken back in time because something in your face looks just like your Mommy looked when she was a baby.
This evening Grandma is sitting in the airport waiting for the airplane that will take me back home. I have enjoyed another precious visit with you all. You have grown so much in the two months since I saw you last. You are crawling already! You're able to pull yourself up to stand all by yourself! I know that the next time I see you you will already be walking. That is a bittersweet thought for your Grandma to ponder.
So take good care of your Mommy until I see you all again, okay. When you're feeling tired and cranky, remember that funny "Old MacDonald" song I sang to you. You liked it and it made you stop fussing. (even though Mommy was skeptical that it would work!)
I love you very much,
Grandma