Seven

If you read here regularly you know I always write my grandchildren a letter on their birthday. Today is one of those days. 

Dear Mancub, 

Today you are seven. 

Once again you're marking a birthday thousands of miles and an ocean away from your Nana. This past week you boarded a plane with your family and moved to England, and you know what? 

Nana isn't sad. 

How can I be sad when you have the chance to live in one of my most favorite places in all the world? 

When your momma was a teenager we moved to England. We hugged her grandparents goodbye and flew across the ocean just like you. We had so many wonderful experiences as a family making our home in a country not our own, and I know you will have that too. 

I also know you'll ask at least a million questions in the next six months. I know you'll love the language and the way words like gobsmacked, brilliant, knackered, and cheers roll right off your tongue. I know you'll learn a lot about a lot, that you'll see so many beautiful new old places, and I'm also one hundred percent certain you'll fall in love with the English countryside, just like Nana did once upon a time. 

Seven feels big. You are growing up and we love you so. You and your momma and your brother and sister too, were able to spend ten days with us before your big move and we had so much fun in the sun.

There was of course, the the annual run off the dock with Nana, but this trip what you really wanted to do was paddleboard. You hopped on the first day you were here and it became a fast favorite way to spend the day. 

Nana still wobbles, but you bounced up on that board like you'd been doing it all your life, and suddenly you seemed not quite so little. 

Hey guess what? While we're not in the same time zone on your big day, we will be on mine. Yay! Pawpaw and I cannot wait to visit. We look so forward to sipping tea in your garden, giving and getting big in person hugs, walking along the High Street with you and your sibs, re-visiting some of our favorite old stomping grounds, and most especially discovering new ones too, all with you by our side. 

Happy birthday Mancub! Remember no matter where you roam in this great big world the God who made it all holds you in the palm of His hand. 

Know too your Nana loves you deep and wide xo

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6