Feeling Grand
By Thomas Morrone CFP®, CPA
The day our grandson Kyle was born was one of those life changing moments. Things will never be the same for so many different reasons, many of which only the passage of time will yield the true story. Cathy and I have heard from countless friends and relatives, that were grandparents before us, about the unbelievable joy that a grandchild brings into your life. We smiled and were certainly happy for them and thought we knew what they were trying to tell us. Well, we did know that Kyle would bring joy into our lives. What we did not know is that the level of joy is far beyond what either of us could have imagined. At this point, I want to apologize about going on and on about becoming a grandparent so please bear with me as the wave of emotions are so new and overwhelming that I need to vent.
It is exciting to see how Paul and Jill have been adjusting to their new roles of parenthood. They need to figure out everything about raising a child just like we did as young parents many years ago. They are both so loving and caring and without any doubt in my mind they will be wonderful parents. Living only 5 miles away, we tend to find excuses to be “in the neighborhood”. A nice surprise the other day was when Jill popped into the office and I had the pleasure of spending some unexpected time with Kyle, in my arms of course. I made sure Jill took a picture of me holding Kyle and had her text the picture to Cathy because I knew Cathy would be jealous that I had Kyle time and she didn’t. I am sure that Cathy will have her share of Kyle time without me, but I wanted to bask in the moment.
There are many items about Kyles birthday that I will remember that one would normally expect. How small and cute he was. The “who does he look like?” conversations. The excitement of seeing him for the first time and the many hugs, kisses and tears of joy (I am such a sap). Seeing how excited and proud Paul and Jill looked with their new little bundle of joy. Remembering how it felt to hold him for the first time and to kiss him ever so gently on the forehead. To smell that newborn scent and feel the softness of his skin. Life is good.
One other item that day I will never forget that day is the weather. The hospital room was on the 8th floor that had an expansive view over New Haven and you could see all the way to Sleeping Giant in Hamden. What you could also see is the line of black clouds that were developing in the distance. The clouds got more threatening as we watched out the window (in between staring at Kyle of course). Then came the intense sky to ground lightening. As soon as we left the parking garage, the sky opened-up with rain, intense thunder and lightning. As we drove through the streets of New Haven, the rain was blinding, the thunder echoed off the buildings and the lightning was sky to ground all around us. It was one of the top thundestorms I have experienced in my life. Now that I can relate the storm to Kyle, it is the top storm in my life. Someday, during a thunderstorm, I will tell Kyle that story.
Kyle entered this world with a bang, literally and many lives will never be the same as a result. To say that Cathy and I are happy would be such an understatement.
As I said earlier, Life is good, life is really good!
Until the Next Tom’s Take…
