From the Journal

Dunedin, Florida

June 20, 2026

My daughter was showing me the latest sonogram of my grandson when she smiled and said, “he has my nose.”

And of course he does.

I pulled her baby book off the shelf and opened it up to show her the sonogram photos I had when I was pregnant with her and sure enough they have the same little nose!

Slowly turning the pages as I recalled her birth story, how tiny she was, born 6 weeks early and none of the clothing I had fit her. One picture of her, so tiny and new, all curled up in the sweetest little ball. The jammies she was wearing in the picture were one of my favorite.

I washed that little sleeper so many times before she outgrew it. So tiny and delicate like her.

I carried a chair into my closet, reaching up to grab the box off the top shelf. A box full of treasure I started collecting 24 years ago.

I had saved a couple of favorite items from each of my babies.

Little shoes that my oldest learned to walk in, smaller than I remembered but she walked at just 9 months old.

The cowboy boots that my son would wear everywhere.

The little yellow t-shirt that says bald is beautiful from my youngest son, who barely had a whisper of hair when he was born.

And that sweet little Jammie, from my daughter’s first days.

I unfolded it and handed it to her.  “See how tiny you were.”

She smiled. She’d heard me tell her birth story a thousand times before.

All the memories came flooding back of those first few days getting to know her and memorizing every part of her.  It was just as tiny as I remembered, but seeing her hold it on her belly made me tear up.

I pulled out the little hat her grandmother made. It fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. “Of course she did,” my daughter laughed, “Cause that is just what Grammies do.”

I slowly wrapped everything back up and tucked it back into the box.

As I climbed back on the chair and lifted the box back onto the shelf I couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed with joy and anticipation. Soon there will be another tiny outfit tucked inside and another story worth remembering.