Levi;

We knew you were coming of course, but I didn't think you would have this effect on me. Grandma? I knew she'd be head over heels for you (women are like that, shhh, I'll tell you about them later), but although I was sure you'd make a big impact on me, I had no idea you would steal my heart like you have. So after our initial meeting I knew I was going to create this blog for you. I hope you like it.

My letter to you actually solves a number of things for me. I've been speaking for years but haven't really latched on to what it is I want to speak about. I'm a motivational/self-help kind of speaker with no professional niche. Additionally, in order to have material for speeches, we speakers need to write, but I didn't really have anything that grabbed me that I wanted to write about. Also I have been thinking about getting old and I wanted to figure out how I would leave any wisdom that I have learned through the 53 years of my life.

Then, you were born.

Your grandmother and I were outside in the hospital hallway when you took your first breath. We had rushed to the hospital determined to be there when you arrived. I wasn't really sure why, but Grandma was and she assured me that if we didn't make it there'd be hell to pay on my part. I knew it was important when your father was born because I was supposed to be in the delivery room, but I thought this time we could have breakfast and get there sometime later. I do know, however, that when Grandma has that "tone" in her voice, you just do what she says and you won't get hurt. We got delayed and wandered for a bit in the hospital, then got stuck outside the door to the nursery center. After 5 minutes we learned that all we had to do was ring the bell and they would have let us in! By the time we got to your room you had just been brought in.

The feeling of pride, love and joy that a man gets when he witnesses his own child born and holds him for the first time is one of the most remarkable feelings in the world (your Daddy now knows what I'm talking about). It changes your life. When they placed you in my arms I felt that feeling all over again! You were so damned beautiful (it's ok to call boys beautiful when they're first born) I couldn't stop staring at you. We took 3 million pictures and stayed for as long as we could, and my life has been changed forever again.

On the way home the one thing I wanted to do was to make sure somehow I got to tell you everything I could, everything I knew. How do I teach you these things? Will I live long enough to see you grow up? Will I ever have enough time with you to tell you everything? I knew that I would use the remainder of my days to try to do just that; give you the wisdom of all my years. That, Levi, is how this blog was born. Someday you'll get to read my Letter to Levi; I hope you do. Feel free to use my advise as you see fit, or don't use it at all. You see, my job is now to make sure you have what I have. Your job is to ingest it and use it. I promise to do my job, but I won't ever hold you to yours. That, my little man, is entirely up to you.

My prayer is that we will have all the time we want to go camping, hiking, fishing, Harley riding. Time to skip stones, catch frogs, get dirty and talk about girls (yuck!). Time for me to teach you things so you don't have to learn them the hard way. I dream that for us. But just in case, these letters are for you. I'll tell you stories and teach you lessons and I'll try to keep it fun and eventful. Some things you'll understand right away. Most you won't. That's ok, there will come a day when you learn a lesson the painful, hard way and say "Grandpa, you were right! Now I understand." Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. Don't worry, you'll do just fine.

I can't wait to get started.

I love you Levi.

Grandpa Kraft