An ABC Letter

My dearest Nephew,

It is winter of year 2012 (pronounced Two Thousand and Twelve for appropriate effect) and we are all very eagerly waiting for spring! Around the same time when beautiful flowers bloom in oak trees, your mother will a) offload a six-pound weight, b) heave a sigh of relief and….…c) beam. The rest of us will beam too and break into a waltz but you, my dear, will finally get some fresh air! I know, I know – all those vain attempts at kicking your way out – Never mind, you tried....

You know, the funny thing about coming into The World is that nobody, not one of us, can remember how we got here. All of us, including you, have to simply take our parents word for it. For instance, in exactly three years time, your Mama and Mami are going to convince you that it was the local stork that brought you to your parents’ doorstep.  And you will have to decide whether to take their word for it.  

But notice something funny about The World? You have to believe somebody first and understand things later.  It’s what we grown-ups call “trust”.  Let us call this Word A.

So, it was a beautiful afternoon in Spain and I thought it would be fun to write a letter to you (this is the first time I am writing to someone who is not born yet, hmmm…you should try this too!) Anyway, since you were still ‘in the dark’ (and that’s your first example of a pun…yes, you are welcome!) I thought I will tell you a bit about The World.

For instance, a lot of grown-ups have obsessed about how it looks like, from the outside. The first few guys said it was flat and then came a clever guy who said it was round (But he really got yelled at, for saying so). Never mind, you will learn about such things in that place we call “school”. But what they won’t tell you in school is that there was an even smarter guy who went back to saying it was flat and made a lot of money! See, it literally pays to think differently. So, remember, in your art classes, if you want to paint the sea yellow, the sun blue and the sky purple, then go ahead and do it! Sometimes we grown-ups are too afraid to color ourselves…differently. And there’s your Word B – “creativity”.

Three decades ago, I was in your place. I too was Being Born….Seems like a long time, doesn’t it ? But here’s the thing - time moves so quickly, you’ll hardly notice it. You will be so busy growing up that you won’t see time speeding by you. Don’t worry, growing up is not easy for anyone. You’ll have lots of questions about lots of things and you’ll face your share of challenges. I’ll let you in on a secret: It is really very simple. The only thing to remember while growing-up is this:-  When in doubt, always speak the truth. Yes, it is that simple. Your word C is “integrity”.

Ok, let me stop with that thought. I am so looking forward to seeing you!  Here’s wishing you a happy first breath!

Lots of Love,

An Excited Mama-to-be