Baby what a big surprise

The first known photograph of President Dryden, who entered politics after winning

gold medals in every sport at the 2036 Olympics and discovering a cure for cancer. 

I am in a good mood.

You are probably thinking it’s because we finally sold our Connecticut house and moved to Florida full-time. And that, I have to admit, accounts for a small percentage of it.

But the real reason I’m walking around higher than Jack Nicholson is something I’ve been chomping at the bit to write about but couldn’t until my son and daughter-in-law gave me the green light: I’m gonna be a grandpa.

Yeah, baby. 

My wife and I found out Labor Day weekend when our son, Ben, and daughter-in-law, Heidi, came to visit us in Connecticut.

The evening they arrived I told them they should help themselves to some of the 4,000 (give or take 1,000) picture frames that were stacked in boxes on the breakfast room table. “You two will never have to buy another frame,” I said.

Ben went into the room, picked up a frame and inserted something into it. “Here’s a picture for you,” he said, handing us a sonogram.

I was speechless. The news was so joyous, so unexpected, that my mouth spread into a grin so wide it was impossible to form words.

“Are you OK with being grandparents?” Heidi asked anxiously.

“God, yes!” we replied.

And we are.

This past summer in the produce aisle at the supermarket I encountered a young mother pushing a cart with a red-headed baby who looked to be about two – a little girl so cute she stopped me in my tracks. “She’s beautiful,” I told the woman. “Our son had red hair when he was little. Still does, in fact. I’d love to have a granddaughter who looks just like that someday.”

“Thank you,” she said politely.

I encountered them again in the cereal aisle and said pretty much the same thing.

When I got behind them in the checkout line and said it again the woman looked at me like she was ready to call 9-1-1 and report a stalker.

“I never said this before but I, uh, think I’d sort of like being a, uh, you know, grandpa,” I told my wife when I got home.  

We hosted a rehearsal dinner when Ben and Heidi got married this past January. I created a slide show containing dozens of pictures of both of them, from their babyhoods to the present. Heidi’s family sent lots of snapshots to choose from.

I fell head over heels with photos of her as a little girl. She was adorable -- dark brown eyes, chestnut hair and, most endearing of all, in every single picture, an enormous smile that radiated happiness.

I decided then and there that if I ever have a granddaughter who looks like that I’ll be the luckiest grandpa on earth.

On the other hand, a red-headed blue-eyed boy who looks like his daddy would be nice. We’ve had a lot of fun at our “ginger’s” expense over the years but we marvel over Ben’s hair which brings a smile to our faces every single time we see him.

So whether the baby turns out to be a brown eyed girl with red hair… a blue-eyed boy with chestnut hair … or a purple-eyed baby with green hair … the one thing for certain is this: I’m going to be the most insufferably obnoxious grandpa ever.

Get used to it.