Today I celebrate you six magnificent men who father my beloved grandchildren. When I think of how you love them, what I see is their faces and your love in all its forms reflected there.

The full-on glee when you’re blowing raspberries into their soft baby bellies or roughhousing with them down on the floor;
The intense concentration when you’re teaching them something they want to learn, to work a chunky wooden puzzle or take the ready position in right field;
The beam of pride when you’ve praised them for that first terrifying swing all the way across the monkey bars or the enormous accomplishment that is graduating high school;
The small nod and quick, acknowledging smile when you’ve cheered their soccer goal or all out effort in a swim race;
The wide-eyed wonder as you’re explaining how to flip a pancake or where India is on a map;
The way their faces soften and quiet from tears of terror or pain or anger as you hold their small heads against your broad shoulders, patting them gently on the back for as long as it takes;
The explosion of joy when they run to greet you at the door, “Daddy’s home!”

It happens every day, in countless ways, many of which you may not see but we, their mothers and grandparents, we see. How you play with them, teach them, support them, comfort them and love them. But most of all, how you model for them how to be a parent and how to be a human being. For all these reasons, I love you and thank you, today and every day.