Today is the 10th birthday of my beloved oldest grandchild Luna Isabella Pacheco Beaty. She is in 4th grade in a dual immersion program in Spanish and English and is an avid artist, reader, writer, and filmmaker. She also is quick-witted and the first to tease me about my “terrible” accent when I try to speak a few words of Spanish. When she was very young and I was reading a book with a character named Miguel, she said, “Grandma, it’s not [MA] + [GEL]. It’s [MEE] + [GEL].” Of course, I’d never actually realized I was saying MA instead of MEE when saying Miguel. I said to her, “I’m afraid that might just be my Texas accent at work.” I will assure you, however, I have not repeated that mistake since then.

Luna has marched to her own drummer since she was a toddler. She could sit for two hours uninterrupted at age two playing with Play-Doh, learned the word “extruder” as one of her first words so she could make more shapes, and informed us all at age three that she planned to be a paleontologist. (Of course, her archeologist Dad had been reading her books and showing her educational programs on dinosaurs, ancient life, and fossils since she was a few months old.)

Luna also is a loving big sister to Nico and her baby sister, Lyla. She gets mad at Nico for being too rough when they wrestle, but, overall, they are clearly very good friends. Also, she told me that just that morning, she’d been singing the “Ghostbuster’s Song” with the lines: If there’s something strange/In your neighborhood/Who you gonna call? when little sister Lyla, very matter-of-factly called out, “The police.” Luna burst into giggles as she told me that story and we both had a good laugh about cute (and practical) little Lyla.

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of spending time with Luna and her family while we watched brother Nico play soccer with the team that their dad, Gregorio, coaches. Luna kept me entertained the entire time by telling me jokes she’d read, making up jokes, and/or poking fun at me for my “grandma ways.” She is naturally funny like her Grandpa, and they both can make me belly laugh, which, of course, I love.

Luna also teased Sarah and me since we’re both taking the “Blue Zone Challenge” and talk on Zoom every week about what’s working and what’s more difficult. Luna said, “Grandma, you are the only person I know who sits with Mom and you two talk about how good that lentil soup was or how you both want to try that new recipe with garbanzo beans. I mean really, Grandma, who else does that?” Sarah and I laughed and I said, “Sad but true.”

Happy birthday, dear girl. I love you, heart and soul, and am so grateful to have you in my life. I wish you the best of everything. Now and always.

Here are a few photos of our new ten-year-old.