"My Heart… The Breath Of My Life"

BY: Michael A. Aun, FIC, LUTCF, CSP, CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame

I am such a shameless promoter. I just got back from the National Speakers Association Annual Convention held at the World Marriott in my own back yard here in Orlando, where I proudly walked around with dozens of pictures of my brand new granddaughter Ashley Elizabeth Aun.

I even bribed the audiovisual guy to put her picture up on the big screen at the annual Speaker Hall of Fame banquet. Each member of the NSA Speakers Hall of Fame gets a slide. Most put their business mug up. I prefer a family picture, and this year I had my beautiful little granddaughter up there with me.

The NSA Speakers Hall of Fame has its share of hotshots in it- Ronald Reagan, Colin Powell, Art Linkletter, Paul Harvey, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Zig Ziglar, Tom Peters, Ken Blanchard and dozens of others you'd recognize at the drop of a hat. And then there are a bunch of nobody's like yours truly, who are also in it. None got a bigger round of applause than Ashley Elizabeth, whose picture I proudly substituted in my place.

Since this is my first grandchild, I am permitted to do unabashed bragging. As the old Welsh proverb goes, "Perfect love does not come until the first grandchild." And if that first baby is a little girl, then this calls for unsurpassed, immodest boasting and as well as limitless spoiling. It's a grandfather's job! There is a rule, you know.

I call her what my granddaddy called me- "hyetti." It's an Arabic word which, roughly translated, means "my heart" or "my life." Little Ashley is "my heart…the breath of my life."

I figure I will allow her to date early on, maybe age 30 or so. We were watching her NASCAR race together today and I am convinced she loves Dale Jr. as much as her "Jiddo," the Lebanese word for grandfather.

Weighing in at a modest 6 pounds 5 ounces, little Ashley was so anxious to see me that she arrived 17 days early, but still managed to be 18 inches long. Hearts are breaking all over Florida as I write this. I expect the boys are already lining up to call on her. I'm so afraid she'll meet males like me, so I will have to go to great pains to protect her from such predators.

I have every intention of spoiling this kid rotten. There will always be hugs and cookies available for her little tiny hands, and my heart will always be open and full of love for her.

I think I will begin Christmas shopping shortly. After all, it is August and you can't wait too long. Don't want to miss the bargains. Since I am in the life insurance business, I figure a little million-dollar policy will be a nice start for her. Wouldn't want her to go without some coverage.

I held her for three hours this afternoon and we talked. Well, actually, I did most of the talking but little Ashley was very attentive. I could see it in her eyes, never blinking just taking it all in. Her little life is less than a week old and she already has an awareness level that makes me feel twenty years younger. This is God's way of compensating us for growing old.

An hour or two with your grandchild makes you feel young again. Anything longer than that, rumor has it, causes you to age quickly. I am here to testify that that is simply not the case. I figure I better enjoy her unconditional love as long as I can. Once she becomes a teenager, she will probably want to have nothing to do with this old geezer that spoiled her as an infant.

There's nothing more delightful than a grandchild fighting to get on your lap. There's nothing more wonderful than to watch a little one run into a grandfather's arms. At least that's the way I envision it with Ashley. There can't be a better place to be than in Jiddo's lap, right Ashley?

Our job as grandparents is to sprinkle love and stardust over our grandchildren's lives. Now I begin to understand why God rested on the seventh day- his grandchildren must have been out of town.

I figure it's my job to introduce little Ashley to as much mischief as possible. I figure I am supposed to be a little bit grandparent, a little bit teacher, a little bit mentor and a little bit "best friend." I suspect her parents might think me a scallywag, but being the common rival for little Ashley, I would expect no less from them.

So in parting, the only thing I don't like about Ashley after a week of presence here on earth is that she won't take her afternoon nap and she won't let me take mine either. Welcome to the world my dear hyetti!