Dear Oliver – One Small Step
You started walking today. I saw it in a video from your daycare center. With encouragement from your teachers, you took 8 or 10 wobbly steps to get from a cabinet to a chair.
For weeks, we’ve watched you practice walking behind a wheeled push-toy that reminded me of my mom pushing her wheeled ‘rollator’ during her final days. Finally, at thirteen and a half months of age, you took your first, unassisted, I-need-to-get-there-by-myself steps. Now a whole world opens up to you—a lifetime of walking, ambling, strolling, sauntering, hiking, marching, and running.
That 1st step is a leap of faith for all of us. As minister and civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr said “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” Plenty of other famous people have commented on the importance of a single step. Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” And before astronaut, Neil Armstrong stepped out of his spacecraft as the first man to set foot on the moon, he said, “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
I love walking. It is good exercise, and I get to see interesting scenery, including flowers, birds, and wildlife. I come from a long line of walkers, although it skipped a generation with my parents. They didn’t walk much. But when my brothers and I spent weekends with Grandma Porter, she walked us all over St. Petersburg, Florida. We walked to the grocery store and drug store when she needed supplies. We walked to the ice cream shop after dinner. And we walked four blocks to the bus stop on Sixteenth Street when she needed to go downtown—where we walked some more.
Grandma Porter didn’t walk because it was good for her health. She wasn’t worried about her cardio workout or how many steps she got in. And she certainly didn’t walk for ‘fun’. She was just a walker. And so am I.
Author, Wayne Dyer says, “When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a place on the floor. It is to enjoy each step along the way.” That’s the way I feel about walking.
Now, you’ve taken your 1st steps on life’s journey. Enjoy the dance, Buddy. I look forward to our walks together.
Dear Oliver - Carpe Diem
As I have been watching your growth and development, I have once again had to pause and reflect on my own life. You have helped me appreciate how precious every day is. Compared to you, my time is relatively short, so I need to make every day count. But, if I step inside your life, the same can be said for you. You have lived one full year of your life, and it has been momentous.
I suppose from your perspective, you are already making every day count. You don’t have any worries, yet. Those of us around you are doing the worrying. When you are hungry you make a fuss, and somebody feeds you. When you are tired, you go to sleep. And when you don’t like something we feed you, you spit out. But, on the score card of life, you are already contributing to society without even realizing it.
We tend to discount a baby’s early years because we know you won’t remember any of it. We grownups like to project ahead to your 1st day of school, your high school graduation, and your marriage to the love of your life. But life doesn’t begin when we reach certain milestones. I hope you have a long life and reach each of these stages, but your life began last year, and you have already had a huge impact on the world. You have touched family and friends. I’ve seen strangers pass you in the supermarket or on the street and smile. You brightened their day without even realizing. And your impact on my life has been huge.
A famous person once said you will achieve success when you have lived well, laughed often, and loved much. That sums up my goals in life and it looks like you are doing pretty well, too. So, continue to Carpe Diem, Buddy—seize the day!
Love, Grandpa
P. S. By the way, you are not supposed to spit out your food at the table in front of us. When you get a little older, I’ll teach you how to spit it into your hand when nobody is looking and feed it to the dog.