The Official Callihan Family Blog

To my little grandson, Elijah--from Pops!

2008-07-16T22:10:00.002-04:00

July 15, 2008 10 p.m. Eastern Time, Orlando, Florida

Dear Little Elijah,

It has now been six months that you have been here, and we have yet to meet since you came into this crazy world. But your mommy and daddy have kept me and the rest of your extended family aware of your growing, as well as the happiness of your little life. Even though I have yet to meet you personally, I feel like I know you already. I carry your smiley picture on my cell phone and show it to people all the time. And I’m sure that your big brother, Nehemiah, and your cousin, Eden have told you all about their Pops! I can’t imagine they haven't yet.

You might wonder why I’m writing you when you can’t even read yet. This is becoming something of a tradition for me, to write to my grandchildren when you are very small. Some day you will be able to read this letter. I hope that it will be one of the special things you will own—not worth very much materially, but perhaps worth something to you.

I just wanted to share a few thoughts with you about things that you might like to know, but maybe haven’t been told yet by anyone else. Some of these things, I'm sure you have because they are important. Other things, probably not, because most people don't think little kids understand such things. But I disagree. Little children start realizing things right away. People probably don’t say things very profound to you too often, though they should because as far as I can tell, you are a very bright young man. You are always happy, at least as far as I have been able to perceive, which means you must realize that this big world is a pretty cool place to be! Especially where you are in Colorado, there are beautiful, big, colorful, fresh and clean feeling things all around you like mountains, trees, brooks, fields, wild animals, birds, creepy crawly things, and lots of other stuff that little boys just love to learn about as they grow up. At night, you should be able to see way up into the dark sky filled with awesome stars that are really galaxies—billions of them out there along with the planets and the moon, when it is there. God made a wonderful universe for you to explore as you grow up. I’m sure that you and your big brother are going to have a blast learning about things around where you live. I know your dad and mom love to go and see what’s out there. I’m sure you are going to grow up to learn lots of cool stuff.

As you grow up, don’t forget that this world is made for you, so enjoy it. Your loving God wants you to appreciate it and learn how to be a part of it. Your parents want to teach you about Him too, and especially about Jesus who is the Son of God and King of the Earth and Heaven above, which you will get to see plenty of as you grow up. You will learn that He has done a lot for you and all of us to make our lives happier than it all would have been if He hadn’t done what He has done for us. What did He do? Well, first He made this world. Then He made us people to live on it and be His friends. We did some things that we shouldn’t have in the past and hurt Him. But He didn’t take it too personally. In fact, He figured out how to do something to fix the mess that we made. He became one of us so that He could take the burden of our badness and turn it into goodness, and joy, and hope, and happiness. I think that is why you are so happy—because your parents know all about this. And they help you to be filled with happiness every day. And you have reasons to be so, because Jesus Christ has made a way for you, me, and everyone else to be happy by loving Him. I’m sure you will learn all about this as you grow up.

Now, let me tell you a little bit about me, since we haven’t met yet. I’m a little bit shorter than your dad and a little bit taller than your mom. I have a pretty big mouth that gets me in trouble a lot. I sometimes do crazy things that get me into trouble too, and sometimes I don’t know enough to stop when others don’t agree with what I do. But I can tell you that I try to live in such a way that God is pleased with me, even when people don’t think I am doing that. That is one of the things that you will learn in life, Elijah. Sometimes people can misunderstand your intentions. Sometimes even when your motives are good as far as you can do them, and you know you did things for the right reasons, others may not understand. That happened to Jesus, you know. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that we make perfect choices like Jesus did, even when we think we are doing that. But I’m saying that we are obligated by God to do our best to do that. He sees our innermost motives and understands our hearts. This is what He will judge us by—not by the appearances on the outside that people see. If it wasn’t for that simple truth, I don’t know what I would do. There are a lot of things on the outside that don’t look really good in my personal situation at the present time. But I know that in my heart, I’m doing what I know is right, and God sees that. I know by that how He thinks of me. That is one of the things we can know—what God thinks of us. You will have to learn that as you grow up. It is an issue of faith—of trusting God that you will learn, if you are a seeker after God as you grow.

I hope to get out to Colorado Springs sometime really soon, so I can meet you, little kid. I want to give you a big hug and tell you that I love you very much. You have a very special family who loves you and cares for you and wants to help you grow up to be a great man some day. Listen to your dad and mom all the time. Follow their example of love and faith and trust in Jesus. Those are good things.

As I close, I want to share something with you that I taught your daddy and your Aunt Bekah, and the rest of your aunts and uncles who are my children. I even teach it to the kids that I have in public schools because it is a set of truths that really help us understand what life is about a little bit. Just this week, I was able to share this with a security guard here at the place where I’m working. He thought it was so good that he asked me to write it down for him. I did; and he thanked me for it when I gave it to him. Pretty cool, huh?

This is what I thought up as the three things I hope my children and grandchildren learn from their Pops to take with them through life. I call them the three basic truths of life. They are just some things that might help you and me when things go certain ways, that’s all. Here they are:

1. Life is rude.
2. Ideas have consequences.
3. There is a God who gives us grace and mercy to intersect them both.

I hope you don’t experience too much of the first one. I’m sorry to tell you that you don’t have much choice. Ever since our first father, Adam, did the bad things that he did, the whole world has been filled with rude things. We fall down and skin our knees, or we bump our head, or do something else that we didn't plan to do, or happens to us through no fault of our own. I don’t think that was the way it was at first. Yes, we still might have fallen down, but I think that it would have been a lot harder to get hurt in the Beginning. Something changed, though we only have a glimpse of what was different that we learn through reading a really cool book called the Bible. I know you will be read it a lot as you grow up. Your Grandma and I read it to our kids, and you will read it too, I’m sure. That leads to the second truth. If you listen to your mommy and daddy, and think about what is in that book, the Bible, and the things that Jesus has taught us, you will continue to be happy. I know from the picture that I have of you on my cell phone that you think happy thoughts all the time. Keep that up! Think about the things that are really wonderful. Learn to do right things. Ask God to help you as you grow up. Love others as much as you can even when it causes you harm—God will see that and make a way for you. Try to learn what makes Him happy. And try to love the people around you the best you can. On the other hand, avoid doing mean and bad things to others or to think about things that are not good. That will possibly hurt you. In other words, if we think on good things, good things will follow; if we think on bad things, bad things will follow. That is true a lot. It’s not always the way things work, but generally it is so. Sometimes when we think we are doing the right thing, really bad things happen. Trust me when I say that because I have experienced it personally. But that is okay too. It’s okay because of the third truth which is really the most important of all. When we are hit by the rudeness of life and some of the ideas that we think and do turn out to not go the way we had hoped, God is there to give us His grace and show us His mercy. I can’t explain what it means except that you are able to have peace and strength to work through all of the difficulties. It doesn’t always mean that things are fixed overnight, or even in a few weeks or months, maybe even years. Sometimes things are never the same again. But somehow things work out some day. That is all because God gives us hope! And that is connected to His love for us.

And remember this as well. This is something that came to me just a few weeks ago, but it is becoming something I am going to try to remember every day because it helps me to know a bigger thought—every day we are one day closer to our Ultimate Adventure! For me, the Ultimate Adventure is probably a lot closer than it is for you. But in reality in the grand scheme of things, it is very close to the same time for all of us. That’s because our time here is so short when compared to the Eternity of time ahead of us. We who call ourselves Christians know that this life is just a sliver of what we have ahead of us. So that gives us hope too. That is something you will get to consider as you grow up too.

As I close this note to you, little Elijah, I hope you are having a wonderful day and will have a wonderful day every time you read this letter when you can read it on your own, without your dad or mom or brother or someone else having to read it to you a few years from now. You are lucky to be here because you are surrounded by a whole bunch of people who love you and want to give you hugs and kisses and lots of other good things. Some day those things will not be so important to you, because you are a boy and boys like things that are rough and tough too. That’s okay though; whatever way you decide you want things to be. Just remember this. That your Pops and your Grandma, and your other grandparents on your mommy’s side of the family, and your uncles and aunts and cousins and brother and your parents all love you very much. I will be praying for you many times in your life, like I do your daddy and mommy and brother too. But I want you to know how special I think you are and that there is a place in my heart for you all the time!

I can’t want to see you and hold you and play with you like I do all my grandkids. I hope we will have plenty of time to get to know each other down the road.

I love you, little kid. I hope to see you real soon too.

Your loving grandfather,

David “Pops” Callihan

2008-06-22T16:42:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox free ecard

2008-03-22T17:56:00.000-04:00

Elijah William Callihan

2008-01-15T16:49:00.000-05:00

Born January 14, 2008 5:02 am
7lbs 6oz 20"

What an amazing boy already and I think his name suits him - Gram

2008-01-15T16:23:00.000-05:00

2008-01-15T16:22:00.000-05:00

2008-01-15T16:17:00.000-05:00

2008-01-15T16:16:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful mommy and baby.

2008-01-07T17:00:00.000-05:00

Jo's Band

2008-01-07T13:43:00.000-05:00

Wes at Work - Holyland Experience

2008-01-07T13:29:00.000-05:00

2008-01-07T13:22:00.000-05:00

2008-01-07T13:21:00.000-05:00

Christmas in Colorado

2008-01-07T11:17:00.000-05:00

2008-01-07T11:15:00.000-05:00

2008-01-07T11:13:00.000-05:00

2008-01-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

Eden's First Birthday!

2008-01-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

2008-01-07T10:56:00.000-05:00

Pics from Colorado

2008-01-07T10:49:00.000-05:00

Christmas at Pagosa Springs

2008-01-01T11:52:00.000-05:00

In the intuitive words of John Tesh, "Give memories, not things."

I think I quoted him correctly - we were listening to the radio on the way to Christmas Eve service and Jeremiah and I noted this timely sentiment ;-). Anyway - we had already planned our trip to Pagosa Springs with Katie and Shawn as their gift from us. Yes, they were supposed to snowboard as well - and conditions didn't end up being suitable - and yes - sore throats were abundant (but back at the Callihan compound in Co Spngs too) - and yes - we spent several hours with the view shown in the second pic down from here (the truck, etc.) in blowing winds thinking of rationing our one square of chocolate (haha, I had one in my purse guys) and the leftover chili in the trunk from our stop in Del Norte 30 miles back (since the pass and thus the road was closed and we were stuck) - but then take a look at the rest of these pics. By the way they were all taken by Shawn and Kate, and I hope they don't mind me posting them - they do retain copyright ;-) - it was an awesome time at the springs. What a place. And the views on the way there and back - spectacular. Thanks Shawn and Kate for making these memories with us. Love you guys.

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2008-01-01T11:12:00.000-05:00

The Passing of a "Friend*"

2007-10-27T11:46:00.000-04:00

* "A dog is a man's best friend" anonymous --How true it is.

Well kids, here I go with another of my rambling essays. Oh well. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.

This was a rather sad week for all of us. We had to make a sober decision to end the life of a special part of our family, putting down our first family dog—Babe Pup. On Wednesday, September 24, 2007 at about 11:10 a.m., Babe was given a shot that put her to sleep, and then a few moments later she was given an overdose of barbiturates that stopped her heart. She was a happy dog to the very end. She just went to sleep.

I would be lying if I said that I didn’t bawl like a baby as I said goodbye to our old friend. I think that I can honestly say that at least for the past few years, I had become closer to Babe than most of you, just because I had to take care of her so much of the time. Yes, she was “Katie’s dog” officially, though I think she voluntarily rescinded that ownership, at least in a practical sense, a few years ago. I also would be lying if I didn’t say that in spite of some of her disgusting habits like her grunting, snorting, licking, getting into the trash for something to eat, licking herself, scratching and digging for things on her body especially around her smelly disgusting wax-filled ears and butt, licking everywhere (did I say that one yet), etc., she was a very happy and joyful part of my life.

We always loved to talk about how “stupid” she was. And she really was in many ways.

But Babe was also a very smart animal too. Mom always talks with friends and family about how she actually figured out that not being able to be on the couch in Frankfort was a crock. When the pups were born and started growing, we allowed them to be on the couch. One day, Babe stood there on the floor watching as we let the puppies play and frolic on the couch. You could see her “reasoning” through the incident and thinking, “Hey! What’s the deal here? A double standard if I ever saw one. I’m not allowed on there . . . why are my babies getting special privileges. No way!” And up she jumped right in front of us, looked around to see if anyone was going to contest the injustice that she had uncovered, and laid down in victory that she had finally proven, once again, that she was right. And how can we forget before that change of rules occurred, when we would go somewhere in the van and come home along Higby Road to see Babe watching out the window for any sight of us, and then would jump off the couch so that she wouldn’t be in trouble with us, thinking all along that she had gotten away with something? She wasn’t that dumb, was she?

I remember her mostly as a frolicking, limber dog who would love to just prance around the place, always wanting to be near someone; always wanting to sleep with one of us. Never wanting to be in another room from where the action was at in the family. She loved for us to rub her belly. And she loved to lick our hand, arm, face, or wherever over and over again, letting us know that she loved us. Just this past week, even when she wasn’t able to see me, she licked my arm over and over and over for a number of minutes because that was her way of expressing her love for her master. She loved to lick. I will never forget how she always dropped her head when you went to pet her. Then she would look up affectionately at you.

She was an affectionate and loyal friend to us all. She protected us to her best ability. I know that if ever there would have been a time when one of us was in true danger, Babe would unhesitantly have defended us to her death. We saw this exhibited several times in our life in the crazy incidents of Katie’s “Get away! Get away!” episodes with the boys in their younger years. Babe also protected the property, especially in Frankfort, when anyone attempted to walk by the place along Higby Road. Off she would go to bark out a warning to not come any closer, as if she would do anything except maybe lick that person to death! Or when a car pulled in the driveway in Frankfort, Liverpool, or even Arcadia, she would be yapping in her silly high pitched bark until we either threatened to whack her or that person would present himself or herself to Babe for a sniff to verify that they were friend and not foe.

Babe was careless about what we thought about her too. Did she care that we thought she was uncouth? No. Did it bother her that she would do something dumb like bark out the window at 3 a.m. as if some stranger was prowling about, only to learn that there was nothing there? No. Did Babe ever think about our feelings when she lay on the floor licking her butt and snorting vociferously as she attacked whatever it was that was causing her discomfort? Of course not. She was Babe and that is what Babe did. It was a matter of fact.

Babe was more like an old lady than an old dog. She didn’t want to be bothered with the pups after they were born, as you may recall. The puppies were a nuisance to her. If we had left her to herself, it is possible that Chunky, Pudgie, Sadie, and Chloe would never have been born. (I wonder if Chloe is still alive. You may recall that we sold her to the Johnston family in Bainbridge, NY, near Oneonta. They had lost their English Springer days before to a truck accident and were so thrilled to get a beautiful replacement from Babe’s litter. See, Babe did give joy to others besides herself, even if she didn’t know she was doing it.)

She had a personality that was stubborn, self-centered, and even obnoxious at times. If she wanted something her way, unless you physically stopped her, she would go for it until she got it. That was just the way Babe was.

My favorite memory of Babe was when we lived on the old farm in Wadsworth. Do you remember that place, after the Bob House, and before Frankfort. I had a tiny office upstairs that I made my phone calls out of. Babe would come upstairs no matter what you kids were doing and crawl under the desk and lie on my feet. She would lay there for hours while I did my work. If you were all gone somewhere when I was at home working, Babe would be right there with me. She always wanted to be around us. She loved us all so much because that is what Babe did.

As I used to always say, she was “a precious puppy!” She was from the day that we brought her home from Naples, New York after driving two hours from Honeoye Falls to pick her out of the litter until this past Wednesday when we took her on her last R-I-D-E in the C-A-R to the vet, where she always hated to go to. (Perhaps she somehow knew that one day that ride would be her last. Probably not, she was too dumb.)

Mom mentioned that we bought her a bag of Twizzlers to eat the night before she died. She loved to eat Twizzlers, didn’t she? She was so happy Thursday night, lying on our bed, unable to see anything, but comfortable and relaxed. She was in pain. But when we put a Twizzler by her nose, nothing else mattered! In those moments of eating those completely non-nutritious candies, Babe was already in doggie heaven! Her pain went away. I was afraid she would get sick from eating so many of them that night. But of course, that was ridiculous. Babe lived to eat. Her life was just like she loved it to be, full of romping in the fields, chasing a cat in the yard, barking at a neighbor driving up to the house, lying on the couch or chair or bed with one of us that she loved so much as only a pup can do, eating the leftovers or a candy or anything. Even on the way to the vet to be put to sleep, she was so happy just eating Twizzlers, as if life would go on like this forever. Oh, that it could! Maybe in the end, it does. (More on that in a moment.)

I am going to miss that stupid old dog so much. you know. You kids probably don’t realize this, but Babe was really my first dog too. Yes, our family had a dog when I was a kid, but she wasn’t really MY dog. I was the youngest in my home and had a twin brother too. Pansy was my older brothers’ dog much more than she was mine. And we only had her about a year, so I really didn’t know her too well. But Babe, she was definitely my dog as much as she was all of ours. She would always come romping to see me when I came home. She would love to be petted and hugged and scratched on the belly by me at any time, anywhere, and as often as I would do it. Up until her final day, she was a loving dog to me, and I know to all of you too!

Let me talk in a poetic sense for a moment. Please don’t take this part literally. I’m just trying to make a point about how Babe’s life might have affected us more than we had thought she could. I think an argument could be made that Babe is proof that there is a God and a heaven at the end of this life. Take a moment and think about her life and the memories that you have of her in your experiences. Those memories make you happy, don’t they? They make you feel like very little else matters in comparison, don’t they? You gain a glimpse of the contentedness, peacefulness, warmth, happiness, joy, kindness, loyalty of friendship, and companionship that God intended to exist in this space-time reality, don’t you? He created pups. If we are right that this existence is not random, arbitrary, or nonsensical events driven by unintelligent and impersonal matter or force, then Babe is a proof that God is good. Her existence reflected the satisfaction of a loyal dog to his master. That is a concept of goodness in a small way.

If God is good then He certainly has included in His infinite plans that one day in the not-too-distant future, we might just see Babe again. She may once again be our happy Babe dog. But the next time we see her, she won’t be covered with tumors, growling lowly with her pain, or having to bump into the walls and chairs, slipping on the floor because her legs are too frail to hold her up. Babe will be rumbling across a field, her ears flopping in the breeze as she “springs” along chasing a bird or buffing at the people in the distance. She will be following one of us around wanting to be petted, held, at our side, giving us a lick and making sure we know that she is there. I don’t think that concept is that far-fetched.

Even in this life, she will always be there from now on, in our memories. A remnant in our minds of the happiness of a dumb old dog in a family that has struggled at times, had difficulties and pains, but one that to this day is full of love and hope because of what Christ does to unite us in our times of disconnections.

Our loss of Babe is symbolic and real at the same time. It is symbolic of the fact that “life is rude.” Yeah, I know, you’re sick of hearing that one. Paul told us that the creation groans continuously as it waits for the redemption of the sons of God. Babe’s groaning and whining when she didn’t get her way will always be there in my mind. I still hear her little yap when she is left outside or in another room and can’t get to us. That was her way of reminding us of the rudeness she felt too. The last couple of days she was here, she would once in a while growl in a very low tone because of her pain. That is why I decided it was time. The fact that this loving animal had to be put down illustrates it as well in reality. She’s gone now from this life. We will never see her again on Earth. Life is rude. But it’s also symbolic of the fact that there is a God of grace and mercy who does intersect the rudeness in that He promises that one day there will be no more crying, or tears, or rudeness. There will be a resurrection one day. I’m looking forward to that day. Christ will be there to govern us. He will give us all responsibilities to oversee in His Kingdom. And there will be Babe, and Chunky, and Pudgie, and Serif, and McKinsey and Chai, and everyone we love in this family all together at the marriage supper of the Lamb. I can see the dogs eating the crumbs under the table. Jesus even found this analogy appropriate to leave in perpetuity. It wouldn’t surprise me if they turned out to be our dogs. And Babe will be right there, I’m sure. I know it because where there was food, there was Babe! Am I right? She has got to be there! I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she’s there to get the stuff that falls on the floor.

So be at peace that we will get to see that old stupid dog again some day. Maybe she won’t be quite so stupid the next time. Or maybe she will, because that is why she was such a perfect dog. She didn’t listen well to commands. She did what she wanted to do most of her life. And that was what made her so great. She was “The Babe.” And we loved her for being that, didn’t we?

I used to have a couple of silly songs about Babe. Let me share them once more with you:

(This first one I would sing as I was patting her on the head)
It’s a Babe; it’s a boob; it’s a mabe; it’s a moob;
It’s a beep-bape-bope-boop-bupp;
It’s a puppy, such a puppy; yeseree-yeseroo-yeserup!
And I love her, stand above her;
And I bleetty, blatty, bloaty, blooty, blup!
. . . Babe Pup!

(She loved that song! Here’s the other one . . .)

Oh Babe, you are such a precious puppy!
Oh Babe, you are such a Babe pup.
Oh Babe, I love you, yeserruppy;
Oh Babe, I love you, yes I dup!

I can remember so many times just scratching her ears as I sang that song to her. She would be so happy that she would groan while I scratched her ears.

Thanks for letting me share all of this. I need the catharsis. I didn’t realize how much her loss would affect me. I know that theologically I am probably way out of line. Biblically we know dogs don’t have a soul like we have. They have no spirit like Man does. Or at least that is what theologians say. But I still believe that God is greater than all of this. That dog loved. She loved the David and Laurie Callihan family. She was OUR dog. In the eternal scheme of things, I don’t think it is unreasonable that Jesus Christ will make sure we are able to enjoy that Truth forever. The reason that I believe it is because my Christ is a personal Messiah. He cares for me and you infinitely; and He gave us Babe and the other dogs in our lives, not by accident or unintentionally, but in reality and actually. If the lion will lie down with the lamb some day, why would it be far fetched to think that Babe will lie down next to us again? Huh? That is what faith is all about. God is good. Babe was a good dog. I just think that it once again points to His character that the story isn’t over yet; Heaven will one day write the final chapter. I just think it is reasonable to see Babe in that Heaven, that’s all.

What’s the point? Even a dumb dog is significant in the grand scheme of things. Earlier this year I was reading a book written by a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is one of the oldest Christian faiths in history. Their position is that we shouldn’t have pets believe it or not. They think that because pets don’t have souls, we shouldn’t become attached to them because we will get a false impression of spirituality in some way. I say, “Nonsense.” God did not make man for animals, but animals for man, to slightly adjust a phrase. These animals have personalities because it is part of His intention to allow us to enjoy the Creation He made. Babe pointed us to our Maker. That is what He planned all along. We enjoyed having Babe because she was made to be enjoyed by one small family in the billions on Earth. And that we certainly did, didn’t we? Once again, it all makes us worship the Lord and thank Him for the good things He has made, even Babe. She was a great dog! That’s the point.

And I really miss her already, don’t you? Things won’t be the same without her.

I love you all. See you again soon, Babe!

Pops

We love the Babe . . .

2007-10-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

2007-10-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

Babe enjoyed Twizzlers on the her drive.

Babe

2007-10-24T11:57:00.000-04:00

Babe took here last R-I-D-E in the C-A-R on Mommy's lap, just like her very first R-I-D-E in the C-A-R.

2007-10-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Bek's Birthday

2007-10-24T11:45:00.000-04:00

2007-10-24T11:42:00.000-04:00

Kids

2007-10-24T11:39:00.000-04:00

Like mommy, like daughter . . .

2007-10-24T11:33:00.000-04:00

2007-10-24T11:31:00.000-04:00

Having fun at Bob and Bek's . . .

2007-10-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

In Colorado

2007-10-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

Just Plain Dorks

2007-07-24T23:58:00.000-04:00

Wes and Ally

Catch of the Day

2007-07-24T23:55:00.000-04:00

Here are pics of the Large-mouthed Bass and Sunny that Aunt Dine and I caught in Schroon Lake today - very fun. Also check out her new blog - www.tallfirs.blogspot.com.

2007-06-05T11:55:00.000-04:00

So much to learn!

2007-04-17T12:23:00.000-04:00

Eden the beautiful...and silly!

2007-04-17T12:15:00.000-04:00

One Year Old!!

2007-03-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

What a birthday boy!

2007-03-04T10:15:00.000-05:00

Most Beautiful Grandchildren!

2007-02-28T19:59:00.000-05:00

Neo thinks Eden is funny!

2007-02-28T19:58:00.000-05:00

And guess who is about to have a Birthday???

2007-02-28T19:56:00.000-05:00

She's a funny one!

2007-02-28T12:55:00.000-05:00

More Eden in February!

2007-02-28T12:54:00.000-05:00

Eden at 2 months!

2007-02-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Eden

2007-01-08T22:37:00.000-05:00

Eden and Auntie Kate

2007-01-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

Eden and Uncle Wes

2007-01-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

Lots more pictures!

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2006-12-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

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More Eden Pics

2006-12-29T20:14:00.000-05:00

As her shirt says . . . who needs mistletoe????

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2006-12-24T18:22:00.000-05:00

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2006-12-24T18:19:00.000-05:00

2006-12-24T18:17:00.000-05:00

2006-12-23T22:50:00.000-05:00

"Three days already???!!!"

2006-12-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

It's your birth - day!

2006-12-20T22:43:00.000-05:00

Everyone is holding the baby . . .

2006-12-20T22:39:00.000-05:00

Baby Eden is here!

2006-12-20T22:35:00.000-05:00

Dear little Eden . . .

2006-12-20T07:11:00.000-05:00

Dear little Eden,

In just a few short days, or maybe even hours from now you will be joining us in the big outside world, if God permits (and we see no reason at this point why He won’t since your mommy is caring for you so well at this point). I think I can say for all of your family that you are about to meet that we are very excited to see you coming to join us in this continuing event we call “life on Earth.” The world is a beautiful place even with all of the obstacles and suffering that we endure from time to time. It is great to have you coming out to be with here very soon!

Permit me to introduce myself to you. I’m one of your grandfathers; your mommy’s daddy. My kids call me “Pops.” They have actually called me that for several years now, since they were teenagers; but I now am called that by my grandchildren too, like you. I think I recall that your oldest uncle, Jeremiah, is the one who first gave me that name. It’s probably good because you have another grandfather too, and your new Grandpa Warner and I won’t get you confused if we both have a different name that you can call us, right? You’ll also know which one of us is writing to you this way without having to think too much about it. That way you can save your need to think hard for more important things. Isn’t that nice of us? That’s another reason why we are around—because you need someone around who will always be nice to you, and spoil you, while your mommy and daddy bring you up in a more disciplined and stricter way. Grandpa’s can just be nice to you all of the time! That is just what we do. (Grandma’s do that too, but your grandpa’s, now, we do it in a special sort of way. You don’t have to believe us, though. Just watch. Or you can ask your cousin Nehemiah, he’ll tell you that it is true, too.)

Anyway, the real reason that I’m writing you this letter is to share a few things with you as you are coming into this great big world that might help you get started a bit better. When we live on this planet, we need all the help we can get. It isn’t always the easiest place to be. Up until now, you have been kept safe and warm and comfortable by your mommy inside her belly, but very shortly you will face a new world that is almost as safe, usually pretty warm (since we live in the tropical part of our country), and generally a comfortable place, especially since your daddy and mommy and a few of us spent some time a few weeks ago fixing up your new bedroom for you. We hope you like it. I did most of the painting of your room, with your mommy’s help. She did the trim around your bed and painted on the fancy stuff. But I hope you like the nice walls and remember that your Pops did that.

First of all, I want to let you know that we’re all very ready to have you come. We have been practicing and have a lot of the kinks worked out because we had a chance to do that with your older cousin Nehemiah’s help. He was born almost ten months ago and so your parents and grandma and aunts and uncles all had a chance to prepare for you coming by changing his diapers, and hugging, and kissing, and playing with, and spoiling him a lot (well except for your parents—they won’t be able to gain much from their experience with “Neo” on you, since they won’t be able to spoil you like they do your cousin) in preparation for you. That’s not to say that your parents didn’t get to practice some things with him to help prepare them for you. Your mommy held little Nehemiah a lot over the past few months that he’s been around. And I can tell that because of that, she is going to be that much better at taking care of you. And that goes for your daddy too. He won’t be quite as nervous about holding you, and playing with you, and hugging you, like first-time daddy’s are, because he got to get familiar with this baby stuff a bit over the past several months with Nehemiah. You have your cousin to thank for that.

Second, we all are very excited because we already know that you are a baby girl and we don’t have to wait until you pop out to know that. Up until a few years ago, it wasn’t possible to know whether a baby was going to be born a boy or a girl until it actually happened because our medical technology wasn’t quite that sophisticated. But now they take your picture with a sound transmitting thing that shows us some stuff that helps us to know that you are a girl—it’s pretty accurate—and that helps us to buy the right color things so you can be pretty and dainty and cuter right away when you come out. It also helps us to make your room look better too.

One of the things I have been doing lately is reading a book about the differences between little girls and little boys, and one of the things that it has taught me is that there are some things that you will notice more than your boy cousin does, right from the beginning. For example, you will hear us better than he did because your ears are more sensitive to sound than his are. You also will notice the colors in your room better. When people look at you, you will see their facial expressions more intently, when they smile and stuff like that. You will notice your Pop’s goofy faces and hopefully I won’t scare you when I do that. I’ll try to be careful not to do that to you, I promise. And you will also smell things better, so hopefully your room will always smell good so you won’t start out thinking everything in the world stinks. I’m sure your mommy bought those fancy air fresheners to do that. What’s the point? Well, ever since we first heard that you were coming, you may have noticed every once in a while someone talking to you and saying “hi” and other things as you were growing inside your mommy. That was me, along with maybe your daddy too. He’s not quite as crazy as your Pops is, so I’m not sure he did it this stuff nearly as much as I did before you were born. I just wanted to let you know that so that when you hear me on the outside, that you remember who it was that was saying that stuff to you before. That way we can get acquainted better when we first meet on the outside, and you will kind of already know who I am. Okay?

But another reason for sharing what I just did is because it helps you to know that I can now be a bit more careful as I meet you to do and say things better for you. I don’t have to talk quite as loudly as I did with your boy cousin because you will hear me better right from the start. I can be more expressive in the way I talk to you and you will pick that up easier. I can be more sensitive to the ways that you are “wired” to help you become familiar with what’s going on. As a little girl baby, this information will be helpful to us to understand how special you are in even more unique ways so we can help make your entrance into our world even more special for you.

We want to do that for you because we love you already. Even as you come on to the scene, you are in a very wonderful place because you have many wonderful people who are planning to love you. That is really good.

Let me introduce them to you briefly, just so you can get to know them better right out of the chute:

First of all, there’s your daddy and mommy. Let me start with your mommy though, because she has probably worked the hardest to help you get here. She was my first daughter, just like you are my first granddaughter. When she was born, she was very dainty, so I called her my “dainty daughter.” I’m not sure that you will be dainty like she was. Right from the first few moments she was around, she would throw her little pinky up in the air whenever she was startled, so that is why I knew from the beginning that she was dainty. You might do that too or maybe something else. We’ll have to see. That way I’ll know what nickname to give you, if any.

But anyway—getting back to your mommy, she is a very special lady. She is very smart, so don’t worry about that. That’s a good thing too; because that means that you are probably going to be very smart too, since they say that the gene for intelligence comes from your mommy’s chromosomes. In fact, you probably already know what chromosomes are, and genes, and all of that. (We know that you probably won’t go around bragging about how smart you are though, because I’m sure you will also be humble like your mommy. She doesn’t go around bragging about how smart she is very much either.) And she’s very pretty. That’s one of the traits of all of the ladies in your family. They are all pretty, so you have a lot of pretty faces to look at. You will be able to tell when you are looking at the ladies in the family because they will be the pretty faces. When any face doesn’t look pretty, that is probably one of the men faces, or maybe it will be the pups. That will make it easy for you to keep things straight. If it is a pretty face, it will be a lady.

Another thing about your mommy that you will want to know is that she is very excited, I mean really, really, really excited that you are coming! She has been working very hard to make sure everything was ready for you. And I think she’s totally prepared to give you a very good time! I know she has been praying for you, and eating lots of healthy things, and making sure everything was in the right place, and all of that. You are in for a lot of loving and all that mushy stuff. So be ready for that!

And your daddy, he has been working very, very, very hard too to make sure you have everything you need to get started too. Your daddy is a very strong man too. Do you know what he does? He builds things with his great big strong arms and strong back. He lifts great big blocks of stone and makes houses and other buildings out of them. He is also very smart, even though he doesn’t make a big deal about that. But he really knows how to build buildings and make sure they don’t fall over when they are finished. He knows all about angles, and distances, and how to make a brick wall so that it is straight, and all kinds of stuff like that. He knows all about business and making money on his own. He drives a big truck all over the place that you will get to ride in a lot too. And I don’t know if there are very many men out there who love their wives like your daddy loves your mommy. That is a special thing that you need to know; your daddy sure does love your mommy! That is a very special thing that you have going for you, Eden. We live in a world where a lot of babies don’t have a good start because they don’t have the kind of loving mommy and daddy that you do. But you can relax because that’s not an issue for you. Your daddy and mommy love each other very much and they love Jesus too. So you are in good shape there.

Another person that you will get to know soon is your Grandma Callihan. She is really glad you are coming too. I think you are going to like her lots. She is really good with babies! I just want you to know that. So be ready. You will be taken good care of by your grandmother. I can promise you that. She already has made a whole bunch of things for you to wear and stay warm in, because that is what good grandma’s do. I don’t need to say anything else about her since you will get to know her very well, very quickly. And I’m sure you will grow up to love her a lot because she will make sure that you are loved a lot too.

There is another lady that I want you to meet now who will also be a special lady in your life—your aunt Katie. She is special because she is your mommy’s only sister, which makes her someone that you need to get to know very well. She and your mommy have been together for a very long time and have loved each other for their entire life. Your Aunt Katie is a wonderful sister to your mommy. She’s also smart and pretty. You are going to like her a real lot. Get to know her well, because she will be the only aunt that you will have that is so as a blood relative to you on your mommy’s side. If you don’t know what that means, ask your mommy, or your Aunt Katie to explain it to you. What it means in practical terms is that you probably are going to be spoiled by her too. And I’m sure you will like that.

Let me tell you a few things about your Aunt Katie. She is married to your uncle Shawn. Their last name is Romano which is Italian. They are both artsy people, which is good. They like colors and designs and fancy things. Your uncle Shawn is a good drawer and designer of visual things too. They are very happy people. They love God very much too, as does all of your Callihan family. They don’t have any kids yet. But that is okay because they will have some someday, and then you can be the big girl cousin who goes there to visit. Until then, just let Aunt Kate and Uncle Shawn spoil you as much as you can. Your Aunt Katie can teach you a lot about kindness and sweetness and gentleness and goodness and righteousness and fairness and beauty and hard work. She is one of the most capable young women that I know. And she knows a lot about God that you should ask her to explain to you as you grow up. You can learn a lot from her and her husband. They are both very wise people. Don’t forget that.

Then there’s your oldest uncle Jeremiah and your aunt Kimmy. I am very sure you are going to get to know them because they have your older boy cousin, Nehemiah that you will get to play with as you grow up. They live a long way away from you in Colorado, which is a neat place to visit on vacations and stuff. Your Uncle Miah is your mommy’s older brother. (All the rest of her brothers and her sister are younger except for him.) They have been together for a very long time too, as long as your mommy has been alive, in fact. They are just like best friends, except that they are siblings. You will like your Uncle Miah because he is a very wise, smart, gentle and caring man who does a lot of things very well, especially caring for other people and helping them to know lots of things, including about serving the Lord. He’s one of the most compassionate people I have ever known. I’m sure you will like him as you get to know him and your Aunt Kimmy. She’s your mommy’s best friend too, which makes her doubly special. Your Aunt Kimmy is very pretty and smart too. They went through nursing school together and grew together as teenagers, which is something you will become in a very short time, about 13 years from now. Hopefully you will find a friend who will be a special friend to you like your Aunt Kimmy is to your mommy. I’ll let your mommy tell you about their friendship. I’m sure she will do a better job at that than I can do. All I want to tell you about these people is that they are going to be an important part of your life and you will want to get to know them very well as you grow up.

You have two other uncles, who are your mommy’s brothers, named Josiah and Wesley. They are nothing alike.

Your Uncle Joe is a great guy, in fact, that is his nickname, Guy. At least that is what I call him; not very many other people do, but I do. Your Uncle Joe loves the Lord and has a very good mind. He knows how to work with computers and make them run very well. He also is a good musician and can sing and play guitar. I know you will like him a lot. He is planning to get married later this year to your future Aunt Constance. She’s also very pretty and smart, especially with taking pictures. When you see her, she will probably take your picture a lot so we will have lots of pretty pictures of you as you grow up. I think you are going to like your Uncle Joe and Aunt Constance because after they get married, they will probably also have cousins that you will get to know and play with as an older cousin. Won’t that be fun?

Your Uncle Wesley is your youngest uncle. But don’t let that bother you. He’s a very interesting man. He knows a lot at his age about life and how to work through his challenges with faith in God. He is quite bright, especially when it has to do with imagining things and acting. He loves to sing, and dance, and play, and do things with other people. He’s an actor and a thinker. You are going to love being around your Uncle Wesley because he is full of energy and will be able to play with you and tell you stories about all kinds of things. He can remember things about all kinds of characters that he has read about or seen on TV or in movies. I’m sure that as you grow up, he will teach you stories and share all kinds of exciting things with you. Uncle Wesley will be the kind of Uncle who will be a great babysitter as you get old enough to hear stories and play games because he has a wild imagination. I’m sure he will love you a lot too, since you are his first niece.

We also have three pups at our house, Chunky, Pudgie, and Babe. And we have two kittens, Poofer and Whiskers that will want to get to know you as you grow up. We live in a mobile home, which is a small house in a park filled with other small houses too. In a very short time, you will come to visit us at our house. In the future, we are sure you will be very excited to come and visit us so we can play together and go places and have lots of fun, because that is what little granddaughters and Grandpa’s do. I look forward to watching you grow up and having lots of fun together. I love you little Eden. I’m looking forward to meeting you and being with you as the future days go by.

I will teach you about God, and about the sky above and the earth below our feet. We are going to learn a lot together. I just hope that we have many years together to enjoy one another’s company and learn about the things that the Lord has made, as well as the things that God is doing in the world. Jesus Christ is a special part of our family. You will learn about Him and His love for you as you grow up. We are a Christian family. That means that we love the Father and His Son. You are being born at a very important time of the year, when we celebrate the birthday of baby Jesus. It is a special time, and more special this year because you are coming to us as well.

I can’t wait to see you soon. Please hurry.

Love you very much,

Pops

More from Thanksgiving!

2006-12-03T09:50:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Weekend

2006-11-25T20:32:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving

2006-11-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

Busch Gardens

2006-11-25T20:29:00.000-05:00

Neo in an eggshell at Busch Gardens

2006-11-25T20:27:00.000-05:00

Wes' Senior Recital

2006-11-19T12:26:00.000-05:00

If you click on the picture of the bio below you should be able to read Wes' dedication for the night . . .

2006-11-19T12:24:00.000-05:00

We just got back from Dayton where we saw Wes perform with the three other seniors in their Senior Recital . . . it was awesome.

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Wes' Bio from the Senior Recital

2006-11-19T12:21:00.000-05:00

Wes' Senior Recital

2006-11-19T12:07:00.000-05:00

This is Wes and Emily as they were for "Priest" a song from Sweeney Todd - about turning murder victims into pies . . . known by the Bryan crowd as "The Cannibal Song." The Bryan crowd loved this one a little too much and Wes and Emily were both a little too good at this part . . . hmmmmm . . .
Wes and Katie as they were for their tap number - Gershwin and Gershwin.
The four seniors and their supporting cast.

Wes and Jeremy (or as I call him Tom - Cruise that is) -- as they were for "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" from Kiss Me Kate - awesome.

I did not get a pic of my favorite -Wes as Will in Oklahome with Katrina Wise his leading lady - singing - All or Nothing . . . it was GREAT.

2006-10-24T14:33:00.000-04:00

2006-10-24T14:16:00.000-04:00

2006-10-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

Bek's Shower!

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And one more . . .

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