Dad, I know you will be proud to know that you have once again been honored with a namesake. I think, unless I've missed one somewhere, that you now have a son, two grandsons, a granddaughter, and now two great grandsons who carry your name as part of their own. I don't know when Nolan and Treo plan to bless their son but I sure hope you can make it. I am very sad that I wasn't able to be at Leila's blessing and now I'll miss this one too. If you could be there it would ease the sorrow a bit. Maybe one of my other kids could make sure that that happens.
One of the things I have thought about a lot and is very meaningful to me is that this is my first grandchild that will carry the Sanders name into the next generation. Not only that, but he is my dad's first great-grandchild that will do so as well. I don't know why that means so much to me, but it does. I am very proud of my ancestry. That a man named Sanders had the courage and adventurous spirit to leave England nearly 400 years ago and come to America, to a new and unknown world. I am proud that a few generations later, my great great great great grandfather fought in the Revolution to cut our ties with England, and that his grandson, my great great grandfather had the courage and strength of conviction to join himself and his family with a fledgling church that was going through a very difficult time in Kirtland, Ohio; to move his growing family at the behest of the young prophet to a place called Far West, Missouri, and from there to Nauvoo, Illinois. That he remained faithful when the prophet was killed and followed a new leader across the prairie to Council Bluffs and from there to the Salt Lake Valley, losing 3 or 4 small children along the way. I am just as proud of my own father and mother who carried the message of the restored gospel with them to Kansas City and was a pioneer in the growth of the church there. I'm sure there will be other Sanders boys, but forgive my pride that Kash is the first.
This in no way diminishes my love for all of my grandchildren. They are the light of my life and each one means the world to me. They all carry an equal portion of "Sanders blood" in their veins and no man could be more proud of his kids and grandkids than I am. My other grandsons, Jace and Nixon, are exactly as much Sanders as Kash is and are equal parts Sanders and Keddington; my granddaughters are every bit as much Sanders as Kash is, but their kids will have another name. I am just as much Haycock as Sanders and am proud of that too, but Sanders is my name. So it's just the name. And knowing that the name Sanders at least has the potential to be passed to yet another in a long line of generations just makes me feel good. I think it's important.
I hope that each one of you feels the same pride in your family name that I do in mine.
Love to you all,
