Notes from the Homefront: Dear World

Dear World,

Are you ready for my Evan?

Are you ready for my fourth child who wears a “Coolest Grandpa in America” sweatshirt?

Are you braced for his wild mismatched socks and even wilder sense of humor?

Are you ready for a young man who can quote any sports stat imaginable, who also named his band after a quote from The Great Gatsby?

Can you handle someone who knows as much about the perfect way to grill a hamburger as he knows about the perfect way to perform a song in front of hundreds of people?

Can you completely be ready for someone who, a couple of years ago decided he liked the name Wolfgang, so he asked people to start calling him that? And, they did.

Are you ready, world?

Nineteen years ago, when my husband told a co-worker we were expecting our fourth child, the co-worked inquired, “Oh? Is this your last one?” to which my husband responded, “No, the last one was the last one. This one is a bonus.”

And that was true.

You see, the dictionary says the word “bonus” means “something welcome and often unexpected that enhances something that is itself good.”

And all these years later, knowing Evan (or Wolfgang) he, indeed, is something welcome and unexpected. But nineteen years ago, I couldn’t have had a clue as to how much that bonus baby would enrich my life. I didn’t know how his unique perspective or his funny personality would color my life with the richness of a deep hue I’d never known.

And now that bonus baby is about to share his perspective and personality with you, dear world, via Oxford and Miami University.

And as I get ready to watch him walk away in those mismatched socks, I realize “bonus baby” may not have been the perfect term after all. Although the word “bonus” means something wonderful, it also implies something that you could have managed to live without. And my fourth child, whatever you call him, is indeed, someone I needed for my life to be complete.

So, I take a deep breath and watch my last baby, my Evan, my Wolfgang, walk forward into his (undoubtedly colorful) future.

And I will watch you, dear world, embrace him.

Please be good to him.

Keep him safe.

And of course, laugh with him. A lot.

I suspect you, dear world, are ready for this last child of mine.

I know for certain, he is ready for you.