I was all smiles last night when a good, old friend of mine sent me a text.  It came with a photo of his newborn granddaughter - his first.

She's a beautiful, healthy little girl.  Lovely.

My buddy wrote, "I didn't think I'd ever have a grandchild...I'm ecstatic."

I'm happy for him.  You see, some of my friends and acquaintances struggle with becoming grandparents.  It's a mid-life crisis thing.  Oh, they're happy their children are having kids but it's the label that gets them - they don't really like the monikers:  grandma and grandpa.  It makes them feel old.

In fact, I have a long-time friend, let's call him "Peter", who absolutely adores his grandchildren.  He's a warm and gentle man.  His grandchildren love him.  But, one day, as he and his granddaughter walked together down a mall hallway, she addressed him as "grandpa".

He said, "Shhhh, don't call me grandpa!"

She said, "Why not?"

He said, "I don't like it.  It makes me feel old."

And she said, "Oh, grandpa!"