Dears,

I want to introduce you to someone: Beckett Moses Edward Nicholls. At one week of age, he’s already brilliant and beautiful. And he is loved to his core.

Um, what is his core? I don’t know. Just trust me that he’s loved to a deep place and beyond.

I held Beckett the day after he was born and he looked right at me–his teary-eyed Granny Nanny, the Mermaid–with a serene and understanding expression. Could he tell what I was thinking?

You, little boy Beckett, are all of us. You unite us.

He isn’t a Bercaw by gene pool, which may be a good thing, but Beckett and my son David share the same bloodline. In other words, I’m not genetically related to my step-grandson but my son is! I love them both for bringing us all together in a rare, amazing way.

Beckett opens a new chapter in our lives. A chance to live without fear or sadness. A chance to be happy and hopeful all over again. A chance to be better people.

And his great-grandfather Beauregard Lee Bercaw would have said exactly the same thing. (Yup, I am turning into my dad.)

As I travel to Kentucky this weekend to meet the publisher of Brain in Jar, I will carry sweet baby Beckett in my heart.

Love,

Gal