Dear Hadley Ann Yarbrough and Harper Grace Yarbrough:
Welcome to the world! We were not expecting you so soon. I was told your arrival was set for late May or early June, but, of course, I am always the last to know anything in this family as you will soon find out. Obviously, no one checked with you because you decided to come 11 weeks early. Just like a Yarbrough. Nobody is going to tell you what to do or when to do it.
I am told that you are two tough little cookies who aren’t going to let a small matter like an early arrival affect you. You may be small in size at the moment, but it is obvious that your tenacity is bigger than all outdoors.
You are instant celebrities. You are the first set of twins to bloom on this branch of the Yarbrough family tree. That makes you special. The fact that you have all your fingers and toes and the other stuff that goes into making up a human being is even more special. We should never take the miracle of birth lightly. It is a miracle.
I thank God for that and I thank a group of angels in the neonatal intensive care unit at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Cobb County who are looking out for you two in these first few critical days of your life. Blessings on them one and all.
I am going to give you some time to get accustomed to your new environs but I thought it might be good to tell you a little bit about your family. As you will soon discover, we can be an opinionated and cantankerous bunch but we love the dickens out of each other. No exceptions. Whatever else you may feel in your lives, you can rest assured that you will never feel unloved. That’s not the way we operate.
You have a couple of siblings waiting for you. There is your precious and precocious sister, Hayden Rose Yarbrough, who is 4 years old and already assuming princess status in the family. I assume she will be willing to share that privilege with her baby sisters in due time but let’s tiptoe with that one right now. She doesn’t give up power easily.
And then there is Cameron Charles Yarbrough, who gives new meaning to the word “great” as in great-grandson. I predict he is going to make a great big brother, too, although I suspect having three sisters around may test his patience on occasion. He had better go ahead and declare dibs on the bathroom while he can.
I can report to you that your mom and dad are greatly relieved that you are here, as are the rest of us. I’m not sure it has quite sunk in yet that they are going to need two of everything going forward — two car seats, two high chairs, two beds, a double load of diapers, etc. etc.
No question that the rest of us will chip in and help. You have doting grandparents, great-grandparents, assorted aunts and uncles and cousins who are anxious to get you up and running. We will cover you up with more stuff than you can ever use.
Being that you are the first set of twins in the family, I will be curious to see how similar you will be, as well as how different. Will you look alike? Think alike? Act alike? That is what makes this all so exciting to me. You represent new life. New opportunities.
For many years, I have devoted a column of advice at the beginning of the new year to my grandchildren and later to my great-grandchildren. I have never asked them if they have read the columns. I am pretty sure you won’t read this one. I mean, first thing first — like eating and sleeping and putting a few ounces on your tiny frames. Reading can come later.
You don’t know it yet but you have already taught us all a great lesson. Your arrival serves to remind us of how precious life is, to never take it for granted and to never waste one minute of it grinding over trivialities. As you grow older, you are going to be looking at all of us to see how we live our lives. May we never forget that and never disappoint you.
Hadley Ann and Harper Grace, I am glad you two have arrived safely. Very glad.
Love,
PA

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.