Ella Louise,

you are about to enter a world full of faith, optimism, hatred, controversy, politics, and hope.

since you are hours from being born, i need to write this before i see your beauty, so that when it is read, if at all, by you or your parents, you will know that it is done so without having yet seen the color of your eyes, the extent of your hair (most likely not much if your father’s genes played a huge role here) or the length of your body.

so as absolutely no one as my witness but the stars, i had to write just one thing to you.

a note of promises.

Ella.

I promise to teach you that our Earth is precious and dying, and without your help it may not survive your great grandchildren.  We re-use what we can and recycle what we cannot.

I promise to share with you my values on marriage.  In that it is about being with who you love, regardless of their gender.

I promise to take you to the Rocky Mountains and teach you to ski before you are old enough to remember learning how to ski.

I promise i will talk you out of “80’s bangs” if they ever re-trend.

I promise to be on the other end of the smart device available to you in your teens when you are conflicted with a choice and you are too scared to tell mom & dad.

Je promis de te parler en francais toujours.

I promise that i will teach you that your body, as you grow, is yours to own and defend.  that it is beautiful and confusing and wild and wonderful.

I promise that when you are left in my care, your parents will trust that what goes into your body is nutritious, organic, and, when possible, local.  We will not mention diets, fasts, fat, or skinny.

I promise not to teach you to cook, because i am a terrible cook.

I promise i will be there for every game, recital, or play you are in if it is in my power to be there.

I promise to teach you how to play “Wild Montana Skies” on the guitar because in my humble opinion everyone should know how to play at least one John Denver song by heart, and this one is my favorite.

I promise that if you come to me with “mean girl” issues, because there are mean girls out there, i will reinforce with all my might and power your right to exist as who you are, so that no one can ever strip you of your confidence to love yourself wholly.

I promise that even though i have a highly controversial massive distaste for the Beatles, if Yellow Submarine is (gulp) your favorite song for a minute, you may play it full blast in our living room.

I promise that i will be honest with you in my faith, even though it is different that that of your parents’, so that both of us together can support that it is a choice you have, versus a decision you are given.

I promise so much more, but alas it is after midnight, and as i will most likely meet you tomorrow, i should sleep, so that the first time we meet you don’t cry when you see the puffiness of my eyes or the Jim Henson “muppetness” of my hair.

Ella, babies are born every day, every minute, every second.

But YOU are someone special to me, because i just know you are going to carry my grandmothers spirit with you, which is why you carry her name in yours.

Welcome.

It’s scary out here.

But we’ve got you.

Peace,

Aunt Nini.