Dear Stella...

I got your back...

(I suppose I should welcome my new granddaughter with an entry about how beautiful and amazingly wonderful she is. Well, she is. But I need her to know, first and foremost...)

I got your back!

You see, because you are so beautiful and innocent and full of great potential, you need someone you can count on to be there for you. I'm your guy!

This isn't the world Grandad grew up in. I'm so glad you're here, but this is a pretty hazardous time to arrive, my love. You've arrived in The Golden Age of Selfishness. There is so little respect for other people.

One of Grandad's favorite movies is "Blast From The Past." It didn't win any awards. Most people probably brush it aside as fluff... but I love it. Adam, the main character played by Brandon Fraser, has lived separated from the world in a bomb shelter for the first 35 years of his life, and then is suddenly thrown into the world without much explanation. At one point in the movie, Adam explains to some of the people he has met that, "the short and simple definition of a lady or a gentleman is, someone who always tries to make sure the people around him or her are as comfortable as possible."

And he says, "Manners are a way of showing others we care about them."

This isn't the world you have entered, my tiny one. This seems to be a world that is more and more everyday interested only in self. What makes ME comfortable? A world that is so convinced that each person's personal interests are more important than anyone else's, so manners are becoming more rare. I would say endangered, even.

You see it in the way people drive. Traffic laws are more about what is common practice than what is right or wrong. If people think they can win a race between you and them to the place they want to be, they will try to beat you. Or they just figure insurance will replace whatever they break, so they turn in front you even if you have to pull off a trick worthy of Houdini to avoid a collision. Speed limits are suggestions. Your Uncle Jared was told in Driver's Ed to stay the speed of the traffic around him, regardless of the posted speed limit.

You see it in shopping centers, be it the parking lot or the stores. Everyone is racing to be first and to get the best spots or sales.

You see it in the way kid's activities have become all too serious. When Grandad played youth baseball, he was given a t-shirt and a cap. Most of us wore jeans and tennis shoes. It was not the focus of my life. No one screamed at me and called me names laced with expletives if I struck out or missed a play. And I usually went home happy.

Just want you to know, I got your back. I'm here for YOU kiddo.

And before you get to caught up in all the technology, and we've got plenty of it to throw at you, don't ever forget that NOTHING takes the place of one on one, face to face communication. Text me if you need to, but hug me every chance you get. It really is better.

I don't mean to paint a gloomy picture, little one. There are plenty of things to smile at and be encouraged about still around in this world. I usually wear rose-colored glasses myself. But, reality forces me to point out these small deficiencies.

Your Aunt Kaylea is one of the greatest girls in the whole world. She's always gonna be my baby girl! But if you ask her, I think she'd tell you it's true, from time to time you'll need me...I've had her back, too.

You're beautiful, baby Stella...your Mom and Dad will do great... but if and when you need me, remember...

I got your back!