Dear Nolan,

As Poppy and I prepare to get in the truck and travel to your first birthday party, we wanted to send your gift ahead. We will not be bringing a new plastic toy or a snappy new outfit. We promise to your parents that a new puppy in a box is not on the list either! As a gift for this special occasion, we are sending along a brief and heartfelt message that we hope your parents might save and share with you each year as your grow.

One year ago we welcomed you into the world with such joy. It is our wish for you to experience lifelong joy and it is joy that we want to write to you about now

We wish for you, our precious boy, that you might live a life full of joyful moments. That does not mean that all of your wishes will come true or that all of your wants will be fulfilled. I means something much deeper.

We wish for you that you grow to be the kind of person who awakens each day with the committment to make this day meaningful. Not perfect, not without human ups and downs, not even without suffering. Just meaningful. Outwardly focused on all of the good that there is in the world and what your own unique and creative contribution might be to it.

For us, your loving grandparents, the path to joy is by way of compassion and loving kindness. We can live in a meaningful world when we  awaken each day with a compassionate worldview. If we open our eyes on the new day  thinking about what small kind thing we might be able to do for one other person to lighten their burden, then we create our own happiness.

For this, your very first birthday ever, we are sending along this message. Be kind, be compassionate as you grow in the light of a loving universe. It will come back to you as a joyful life.

See you in a few hours. It will be a joy!

Love, Poppy and Tanta