Grayson: I am sure you’ll hear all about this day from your mother and father, but I wanted you to hear in my own words what your date of birth was like and what’s going on in the world.
I am writing this just a couple of hours after your birth while on a transatlantic flight back to the US with your Mimi. We were in Spain and Portugal celebrating 28 fabulous years of marriage. More on that a little later.
Your Birth
Your mother went to the hospital yesterday around 3:00am, but you decided you didn’t want to be born on November the 3rd. Although you decided to put your mother through many hours of labor, the text message updates I got from your father suggested that your mother was a real trooper and handled everything well. Of course, he could have just not wanted me to worry, so you’ll have to ask your mom and dad about that part when you’re older.
You were born at 9:02am on November 4, 2021. That means you’re a Scorpio, like me! You weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and were a nice, long 21 ¼” from head to toes. Below is the first photo your mother sent around to family members and close friends. Your aunts Kirra and Meagan were super-excited to hear my report of your birth and see your first photo.
Now for the reason I’m writing this while on a long plane flight. Well, you weren’t predicted to be born until some date around November 13th. Your Mimi and I had scheduled our anniversary vacation before even knowing your mother was pregnant. But we thought getting back on November 4th was pretty safe, especially since other women in our family were usually a little late with their first child.
We were actually on a private wine tour to the Northern region of Spain (the Ribeira del Duero region) when we got the message from your mom that she had checked into the hospital to get ready for your birth. Our tour guide and the winery operators we visited after that notice got to witness our emotions. I had to tell the winery employee that my tears were tears of joy and that I was OK to continue the activity.
We got to do a short videoconference with your mom and dad while standing in a winery, about to do a tasting. Boy did we have a good excuse to toast to your safe arrival and your mother’s health. The general manager of the next winery we visited was so excited for us that she gave us a small stuffed dinosaur to gift to you.
Your Parents
Both of your parents work for tech companies, your mother in marketing and your father in finance. They’ve had to work from home most/all of the time during the past year and a half due the Coronavirus pandemic (more on that later).
A couple of years ago, they bought their second house in Pflugerville, Texas, which is so close to Austin that they probably just tell their remote friends they live in Austin. The house is bigger and with plenty of room for you to run around and make chaos during times when you’re feeling rambunctious.
The neighborhood they live in is perfect for you, although I can’t predict how long you will live there. There are lots of families with young children, so I can predict that you’ll make some really good friends there. The elementary, middle and high schools that you will go to while you live there are very close and it’s only a matter of time/age before your parents let you ride your bike to school.
Your Cousins
Your two cousins Olivia Lauren Greye (6 yrs) and Harper McKenzie Greye (2 yrs) live just 3 blocks away from you in the same neighborhood, so I’m sure you’ll spend lots of time playing with them and I can’t wait to get a pictures of all three of you together as you grow up together.
Your Grandparents Mimi and Grandpa
I am 55 years old and have spent 100% of my time educating, advising and investing in entrepreneurs and technology startups for the past 10 years or so. I am a co-founder of a startup incubator and venture fund called Capital Factory. It is very well known throughout Texas and also the rest of the country. If you ever decide to pursue entrepreneurship and start a startup, I very much look forward to helping you with that.
Your Mimi loves spending time at our beach house that we call the “Surf Shack” during our monthly trips there. She also loves painting and spending time working in her gardens. During the past 18 months, she has actually spent most of her weekdays watching your cousins Olivia and Harper. That’s because the pandemic forced everyone to work from home and your Aunt Kirra and Uncle Milo couldn’t watch their girls during their work day. But Mimi has loved the opportunity to form an even more special bond with her granddaughters – just like she surely will pursue with you too.
Speaking of the Surf Shack, your arrival triggers some dreams we’ve had to expand our beach house. You see, no longer will all of our direct family members be able to stay at the Surf Shack at the same time without multiple people sleeping on couches. Your Mimi and I have already engaged a designer to help us decide how much bigger to make the house and what features we want to have. By the time you first realize what it means to stay at the Surf Shack and play at the beach, this expansion will already be a few years old. But we know you’re going to love it and will build long-lasting memories there.
We take annual anniversary vacations in late October to some place in the world that we really want to visit together, and we plan to start taking even more frequent vacations while we are still very healthy. Hopefully we can take you with us sometime.
The World Around You
The Coronavirus pandemic (called COVID-19) is still on everyone’s mind. But at the time of this writing, I can say that we are less stressed out about it and less impacted by it than we were from early 2020 through this summer of 2021. It is not over and there is always a chance that more mutations arrive that we have to deal with. You will certainly learn about it in school and hear stories about it from your parents. I also maintained a personal journal from the start of the pandemic that I’m happy to share with you when you’re older and assuming you have interest in learning more about it from your family’s perspective.
Joe Biden is currently the President of the United States and Kamala Harris is the Vice President. The Atlanta Braves just won the baseball World Series a day ago and we’re not super-excited about that because they beat our favorite team, the Houston Astros. We obviously don’t know what sports you might take a liking to, but can mostly predict that you will at least become an expert on soccer due to your dad’s love of the sport. A year ago, Austin got its first major league soccer team, called the Austin FC. I can predict you’ll go to some of their games with your dad, assuming you remain in the Austin area for a while.
Advanced technologies are being introduced at an incredible pace. Of course, that’s the world I am surrounded by every day, so perhaps I see it more directly than many others. By the time you’re a teenager, I can only imagine all of the exciting things that will be available and all the positive social impact various technologies can have.
Artificial intelligence is becoming embedded into everything and as much as I know there will be some negative attributes of this, I predict it will revolutionize the world in ways that are equivalent to the significance of the Internet and the industrial age of the early 1900s. Healthcare, biotechnology, and robotics are three industries I’m personally excited about, in this regard. There’s also a renewed explosion in space-related activity. I believe you will see men and women return to the Moon and likely also Mars. Space travel for tourist will also become a reality, even if they don’t actually get to spend time on the Moon before you are an adult.
I hope you find this information interesting someday and I look forward to playing with you at the beach, teaching you things, and being a mentor to you at times of need for the rest of my life.
Love,
Grandpa
Gordon Daugherty 