4/100 (letter to a tiny pink person)

Dear Seth,

At just three days old (or is it four? I'm not certain how to count these things), you are far and away the youngest person I have ever written to. But you are currently the youngest person that I love, and so it makes sense that I'm scrambling to translate that love into words.

You are my newest nephew. You came into the world with a minimum of fuss, and at the moment you continue in a similar polite vein. You are tiny, but you have big hands (farmer's hands? mechanic's hands? architect's hands? potter's hands?). You look startlingly like your dad, but you are also incredibly you, with a serious, thoughtful mouth, and a forehead with a few tiny crinkles in it. It's as though this new world is a puzzle you're trying to solve, and I guess perhaps it is, and you are.

I think maybe it's your name, Seth -- a manly little man's name, and an ancient one, too -- that has many of us already looking ahead to your future. You're so tiny and new, and I promise that we will let you take all the time you need to grow up; please don't hurry it. But in the meantime, we wonder about who you will become.

"Mitch, Dan, and Seth," said your aunty Andrea, tasting the sound of the three boy cousins' names all together in a group. It sounded good, and I imagined a trio of bold, cheeky young men who might distract the girls at church. Uncle Tain is already talking about how he will fish with you, wrestle you, and watch superhero cartoons with you. I, on the other hand, had this vision of you growing up to be a lovely paradox: an artist -- one who rides motorcycles -- is the picture that leapt into my imagination when I heard your name.

But guess what, Seth? You don't have to be any of these things. You've introduced yourself to us as a tiny bundle who honestly wants little more than to sleep and occasionally eat (though not much). Yet already there's a story about you and its pages are filled with amazing things. Someone better than any of us has written it; we're just here to read along and help you out with some of the words.

Be who you are meant to be, Seth -- whether that's a wrestling cheeky fishing artistic motorcyle rider, or a chef who reads poetry and wants to get his pilot's licence. If you love God and you love the people He made, you will be a wonderful, mighty man, and that is enough and plenty.

Thank you for coming into our world.

Love,

Aunty Dee