Baby, it’s the last letter, letter Z.
(This one has caused me almost as much consternation as X.)

As I type this, I sit in the backyard on a stolen wireless internet connection, our furniture all sits in the garage.(Your new car seat and stroller sit there too.)

Carpet installers crawl throughout our home.
We get new flooring for your arrival.
We’re excitedly preparing the house for your arrival.

We’ve been awash in advice lately, most lately, it’s “don’t go all out for a nursery or material goods.” Other than some paint and some room reordering, we haven’t, really. It’s just that Papa and I want to make things beautiful for your arrival. You’re our most honored guest, and we want to show you how very much we appreciate your company.

(Be a good host is probably the number one Hearn guideline.)

Back to Z.
There are three Z letters to you, but they’re all of one of my favorite words, Zenith.

Zenith in the sky, follow me around

I love astronomy.

I loved the class,
I loved learning about the planets,
I even endured all the math that astronomy required.

But, baby, as you’ll find out, we have to make decisions about where our attentions are paid. See, I also wanted to be an

obstetrician, I wanted to be a secretary, I wanted to be an artist, I wanted to be an astronomer, I wanted to act, I wanted to write, I wanted to serve.
That’s a lot to roll into one life.

My baser instincts won out and now I consult about the internet for the adult beverage industry. It’s exciting and exasperating and I love it. But that doesn’t keep me from indulging my inner astronomer every short while.

In science talk, Zenith means the highest point above the observer’s horizon in which the observer can see a celestial body.

If you’re looking from either the North or South pole, your zenith is a celestial pole; but if you’re anywhere else, the zenith is a point in the sky where you’ll view a right ascension and left declination as the sky rotates over your head.

(The point right below you is your nadir.)

Okay, that’s a bit much for your first lesson about astronomy. But if you’re interested, we can get a telescope, a patch of dark sky and some hot chocolate and I’ll be thrilled to go over it again.

Let’s observe the above with love.

Zenith Dollarbill is real

When your Auntie and I were little girls, we played dressuppretend every day.

We had a whole cast of characters. A snotty rich boy named Georgeus, snotty, the beleaguered Hattie, a mean girl named Prissy and

our favorite, Zenith Dollarbill.

Zenith Dollarbill was a wealthy elderly lady with a mean countenance and a heart of gold.

Much of our creative input came in the form of the television shows “Three’s Company” and “the Love Boat.” On those shows, grownups hung out in a bar, a classy bar, where everyone looked glamorous. So to emulate those glamorous actors, we played bar.

We took turns playing Zenith. One of us would be her attentive bartender, making sure she had lots of fresh pretend ice in her drink. Zenith only drank Suicides, a mixture of all the drinks available in the fridge upstairs. She always tipped the bartender well because she would often become very drunk.

Zenith wore a fancy teal evening gown, a fur mink stole and a pink hat with flowers on it.
When I am an elderly lady, I hope to wear the same outfit Zenith did.
When I am an elderly lady, I hope to drink Suicides with gusto.

When you are growing up, I hope you play lots of pretend.
I hope you are a good tipper,
I hope you are kind to your bartender,
I hope you turn out as classy as Zenith.

(Without the very drunk part, of course.)

Never reach your zenith

The point of culmination, the zenith, is a point we all strive for. We work hard to reach the peak so that we can retire,
we can quit,
we can give up.

That seems like a very sad goal.

Baby, always strive to reach your zenith. Even when you think you’ve reached it, you will need another peak, another point of culmination.

You have one great role model for that. My mom, your grandmother is in her goldenest years.

She has reached the zenith of her career several times, in music, in theology, in nursing, in education. She’s strives for success in writing, again in theology and in family. She’s not done yet, in fact, she’s one of the busiest people I’ve met. And she will keep striving toward that culmination of effort.

You should too.