I never thought it would happen, that my daughter would have a baby. She didn't seem to be into it, but then that day came..and it's a girl!
I was thrilled when, after two sons, my son and daughter-in-law had a little girl. I so, so love my grandsons, but I think it's only natural that we women would want some granddaughters too. So when I found out that my son and daughter-in-law were having a little girl, I was thrilled, so I wrote a letter to her on this blog to welcome her into the world.
So here I am again, sharing and updating that letter, but this time, just for you, little Ingrid . I love my first little granddaughter very much, but you are my own daughter's daughter. It's a very special feeling, and I have enjoyed this journey with my daughter, your Mother.
And now you are here, so here goes...
Dear Ingrid, My Newly Born Granddaughter,
Welcome to the world!
I am looking forward to all of the fun times we will have and things we will do together,
like...
Tea parties.
My mother used to collect cups and saucers. She kept them in a cabinet and she would let me pick out the ones that I wanted to be "mine." I have those cups and saucers now, and I will let you choose your favorites too. My mother used to do little tea parties for my girlfriends and me. She would make us some tea and toast and cut the toast into long strips that she called "fairy cakes." I will do the same for you, and I will also make some little sandwiches and cut off the crusts and we will have scones and jam, just like they do in England. If you like, your dolls can join us.
Playing with dolls.
Speaking of dolls, I can't tell you how many dolls I have been saving for you and your cousin, Ella. Well, you can kind of see.
Playing Dress-up.
It's no secret that I have been known to buy the odd outfit or two. OK, or 100. Clothes come and go, but I have saved some that I thought a little girl just like you would love to dress up in. I loved to play dress-up when I was a young girl. So did your mother.
My grandparents lived across the street from where I grew up and I would spend time with them. One time I was snooping around up in their attic and found a trunk. When I opened it, I couldn't believe it. It was like being in a movie and finding treasure. The trunk was filled with clothes from the turn of the century, and I'm talking about the turn of the 20th century! My grandmother said I could play with those clothes, and boy, did my friends and I have fun with them. When we play dress up, we can pretend to be princesses or fairies or the President of the United States!
Shopping.
This is something I have honed to a fine art.
I can teach you the "bob and veer." That's where you are shopping in a store and suddenly take a sharp turn and disappear because you spotted a Marc Jacobs dress on sale. It's like "bob and weave," but with "bob and veer," you bob and then, rather than weaving, you veer directly in a straight line to the object of your desire. Hubby, your Papi, HATES that.
Or the "I can't afford NOT to buy this!" technique. That means that the item is on sale and has been marked down so low you will lose money if you don't purchase it. OK, that's sort of a joke. My Dad, your great-grandfather, taught me that, but the idea is that it would be a crime not to buy it. So you do.
There is also the "I can't live without it" technique. My Dad would always ask me that. "Is that something you can't live without?" What do you think my answer was?
And finally, there is the "It might be gone forever" ploy. This means that you might find something you can't really afford, but if you don't get it, then when you DO have the money the item will be gone and you will never find it again and regret it for your whole life. So you have to buy it to avoid that kind of pain in your life.
I learned most of these shopping techniques from my Dad. My mother, your great-grandmother, did not approve. In fact, it is easy to misunderstand these things, so let's just keep them between you and me, OK?
Reading together.
C'mon, of course we are going to read and read and read.
After all, your old Glammy is a librarian and so is your Mom. We can go to the library together and get your very own library card and that card will open up a whole wide world of adventure.
Here I am reading to your cousin A.J. when he was little.
And speaking of Glammy, you might wonder why I am called that. Well, I might have wanted to be Grammy, but my mother was Grammy to her grandchildren, so that nickname was taken. If you had known my mother, you would know why there was only one Grammy!
But since I wanted to be an actress, and I love to dress up and there has always been a bit of Auntie Mame in me, I think Glammy made sense.
Watching Musical Comedies Together.
Growing up, my mother and I loved to watch the old musicals - "Singin' in the Rain," "The Music Man," "Oklahoma." Then I watched them with your Mom when she was a little girl, and now I look forward to showing them to you. Your mother even starred in some musicals. Here she is in "Annie" as Molly, the littlest orphan.
Who knows? Maybe you will be the next musical comedy star!
Talking about boys.
And boy, can I tell you some stuff about boys! Your old Glammy has been around the block (or two)!
Those are just some things I want to share with you.
But you know what? If it turns out you don't like those things, that's OK too. I will just be happy to spend time with you doing whatever you love to do and getting to know you as you go through life.
And speaking of your life, I wish for you a life filled with giving and receiving happiness, thoughtfulness, kindness, empathy, compassion and equality.
You probably won't be able to believe it, and I hope by the time you are old enough to notice, there won't be any vestiges of inequality still around, but there was a time, and not that long ago, when women didn't have rights - they couldn't own property, they couldn't vote, they had to ask their husbands or fathers for permission to do almost everything, they were treated as second class citizens, and even today many women do not get paid the same amount of money for doing the same work as men. Can you believe it?
Your mother and I are feminists and we hope you will be proud to call yourself one, too, and that you will care about women's rights. Because there is still work to be done. I have been concerned that many young women today don't seem to wear the word "Feminist" with pride. It's almost as if they take for granted what women in earlier generations had to do to get where we are today. I wrote about that in my blog post - "Why is Feminist Such a Dirty Word?"
And can you believe that the United States has never had a woman President?... though now I am proud to say we have a female Vice President.
I hope that by the time you are old enough to vote, there will not only have been a woman President, but more than one!
I hope that you will be proud to be a woman and not take any crap. There, I said it.
I wish for you a world you feel safe in.
I want you to be able to go out in the world free of fear. Women should be free to travel, go out at night alone, dress how they wish, all alone, without fear. But the reality is that there is some bad stuff out there. So be brave but be smart and don't take any crap. There, I said it again.
I also wish for you a wonderful education and the joy of learning.
You come from a family that has always valued education. Growing up, it never occurred to me that I wouldn't go to college. Your Dad and Mother had to get a lot of education to become who they are. Your mother went to Stanford and has a master's degree and your Dad has a Ph.D! As soon as you and I can have a conversation, we can start talking about colleges. You can never start too early.
I wish you love.
You have the most wonderful parents who really wanted you and family who love you already. I hope you will experience lots more love in your life, giving love and receiving love, and no matter what happens, even if your heart gets broken, that you will never give up on love.
As I write this, you are barely a day old and I am 73 years and 49 days old, so I hope we will be able to do all of those things together and that I am still around to see you grow up.
But if not, you have this little thing I wrote so that you will know I couldn't wait to meet you and that I love you already.
So my darling girl, it's a big wide world out there just waiting for you.
Live fearlessly!
Go for it!
Love,
Glammy
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