Greetings From Grandma Diane

Yes, you read that title correctly. Jessica and Jason informed me and Lamar last week that if all goes well, they will be making us grandparents in May. Jessica has some very serious female problems and her gynecologist had just told her in August that she could never have children without first having surgery, and possibly not even after surgery. I told her that was bull malarkey. She chose to believe the doctor and wasn't using protection. Mama was right; the doctor was wrong.

Soooo.....in addition to adding a new grandbaby to the family in May, we will also be adding a son to the family in December. Jessica and Jason are getting married in December. They are looking for an apartment in the meantime. So, along with helping them get set up in housekeeping, we will be planning for a little bundle of joy in late spring of 2007.

They are ecstatic over this baby, and I am, too. They know how I feel about premarital sex and getting the cart before the horse. That's all been said and now we're moving on past that. What's done is done, water under the bridge. Now I'm just happy about getting a son and a grandbaby, all in one package. If they're happy, Mama's happy. It will be hard on them both, especially since Jason is in his senior year of high school. He's working after school and on the weekends, and Jessica is working almost full time, too. She plans to work as long as possible, barring complications with her pregnancy and all goes well.

Another change is that Jessica will be quitting college at semester. She was already talking about quitting before she found out about the baby. Her grades are just not good enough to keep her scholarship. The psychology classes she is taking are second and third year classes and she just can't keep her grades up to the 3.0 grade level she needs to keep her scholarship. Without her scholarship she can't afford to pay her own tuition, so she doesn't really have a choice. Now, making a living and a home for the baby she's expecting comes first. Although this is not the path I would have chosen for her life, this is not about me, it's about what's right for Jessica, Jason and Peanut, as they're already calling the baby. We already knew that if Jessica wanted children, she needed to have them while she's young. The older she gets, the less the chance she'll be able to conceive. So on the one hand, while I wish they'd waited until they were married and settled, preferably after they got their college education, on the other hand, if they had waited, she might not have been able to get pregnant. As the situation stands, it's almost a miracle that she is pregnant. It will be difficult, but they can make it if they work hard and love each other enough to work at this marriage and raise this baby.

I won't say here who it was, but a certain family member was very hurtful and judgmental towards Jessica for being pregnant outside of marriage. The words spoken can never be taken back, and Jessica is wounded to the quick. She will never have the love and respect for that person that she did before those cutting words were spoken. Their relationship may be patched, but will never be the same as before. Jessica knows what she and Jason did was wrong in the eyes of God, but they are trying to do the right thing and be responsible. I haven't spoken to this person since the incident happened, but I pray I can have a Christian attitude when I do. When you hurt my kid, you done messed up, let me tell you! That person better be very careful, because I'm loaded for bear! I have some things to say, but I want to do it in a Christian way, if at all possible. I have to try to live by one of the things I'm always quoting to Jessica: "Two wrongs don't make a right." Lord, guard my mouth and help me say what needs to be said without giving Satan a foothold and making a bad situation worse, I pray.

A new phase of Jessica's and Jason's life is about to begin, and with it, a new phase for me and Lamar. Grandma and Grandpa. I can't wait to hold that baby in my arms. And I get a new son in the bargain, too. I hope Jason and I have a great relationship. I already love him like he's my own, and I want to be a good mother in love. There'll be a lot of changes around here in the near future. I pray God will bless Jessica and Jason as they begin their married life, and I pray for a healthy grandbaby.

Right now, life is good. Thank you, Lord, for your blessings.