A friend from college and his wife welcomed a child into the world today. It’s really not possible for a day like this to be any more momentous, for them and for their new addition. This is the first time something like this has happened to anyone I know since I’ve been writing this blog, and it gives me a chance to say a few words to the little one.
You probably will never get to read this personally, because in the four or five years it will take you to learn how to read–and certainly in the ten to twelve years before until you can understand any of this–the “blog” will be consigned to the trash heap of history. Technology is changing at warp speed, little one, and you’ll probably feel the impact of this even more than your parents did.
You, and the kids you’ll go to school with some day, are what have been called “digital natives.” This means the world that you live in will always have some kind of internet-based computer system within it. But it wasn’t this way for your mom and dad, or for me. We’re what’s known as “digital immigrants,” because we grew up in a world where hardly anyone knew what a computer was, and nobody ever thought they could be linked up to anything else.
These developments have changed the world, literally right before our eyes. But you won’t have any idea what that means. You’ll just think that computers and the internet have always been in existence. But believe me, they weren’t. I have the hand-written letters and old photo prints to prove it.
At some point in your lifetime, something might come along that will impact your life as greatly as computers and the internet have impacted ours. And I hope that you, and the people in the same general age group as you, will use that thing wisely, and make the world better as a result. This world that we live in, as amazing and wonderful as it is, is always in need of things that can make it better.
I wish you all the happiness and joy that your heart can handle as you grow up, and I hope that, someday, you’ll be able to send a note like this on to someone else’s child–or maybe even to your own– about the world they’re just coming in to. And when that moment comes along, don’t let the opportunity pass you by. After many, many years on this earth, I’ve learned that the worst regrets in life don’t come from the things you do, but from the things that you didn’t do when you had the chance.
Thanks for reading this, and best of luck to you and your family. You’re all lucky to have each other.
Blue Batting Helmet 
that is a very beautiful sentiment to leave for this new child coming into this world. and so true about doing the things that you truly want to do so you can depart without regret .. and to tred lightly while we are here and leave this world a better place than how it was when we arrived. i came upon this entry quite by accident while looking for a photo of the world .. with love, forest
Thanks for your kind words. The internet gives us an opportunity to put our thoughts out there for others to come upon, much like you did. That’s the reason I enjoy doing this so much. All the best to you.