[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11175-11176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE BIRTH OF MEGAN RILEY McGRADY

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I get to announce to my Senate family that I 
am a grampa again. Incidentally, that is spelled with an ``m'' and no 
``d,'' grampa, the greatest title anyone can have. It is an 
indescribable thrill. It is incredible love. You cannot comprehend all 
of what I am saying unless you have a grandchild.
  I have two other grandchildren, but this time Diana's and my youngest 
child, the baby of the family, had a baby. Emily and her husband Mike, 
Mike McGrady, met at the University of Wyoming. Mike broke family 
Florida University Gator tradition to come to Wyoming, but it was part 
of God's plan. Emily and Mike fell in love and got married. Emily 
worked for the university while Mike went to law school. When he 
graduated, he got a job clerking for Federal Circuit Court Judge Terry 
O'Brien.
  Last year they bought a house. This year, they called to ask what we 
were planning to do for Memorial Day and suggested we might want to be 
near them for the birth of our grandchild. We were near. Our daughter 
Emily and her daughter Megan had extremely fortunate timing for Diana 
and me. Diana and I were in Wyoming for the workweek. Some call it a 
recess. I prefer to call it, more accurately, a workweek.
  The baby started coming almost on schedule. We went to the hospital 
when Emily went into labor. The family took turns walking the halls 
with Emily while she could. After 13 hours of labor, mother and baby 
were getting so tired the doctor suggested--strongly suggested--a 
Cesarean section to take the baby. When nothing is progressing, there 
is no other decision. Surgery is always a scary decision.
  But at 8:33 on May 29, we had a granddaughter, Megan Riley McGrady. 
She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 20 inches long with delicate 
hands and long, thin fingers. I cannot begin to share the emotion and 
feeling that overwhelms me today. It is such an incredible feeling to 
hold another generation in your hands, to see such a miniature person 
and such a huge miracle.
  I had the pleasure of holding that baby and watching her breathe and 
move with 100 different facial expressions--with the tongue in, the 
tongue out, yawns, eyes closed and eyes wide, and listened to all the 
little sounds she made. I watched her hands close to tight fists and 
then open as if to stretch. Of course, I had to let my wife Diana hold 
her a little, too, and Megan's mom and dad, Emily and Mike, wanted a 
turn, too, and Mike's parents, Tom and Mary McGrady, came all the way 
from Florida and, of course, they wanted turns, too.
  It was a grand time for our family. I have some instant replay 
memories of that little face and those moving hands and the blanket and 
cap to hold in the body heat or the little pink bow on a pink band 
circling her tiny head. They are all locked in my mind, and I am 
constantly doing little instant replay memories for myself and thanking 
God for the opportunities that he has given me from finding Diana to 
learning about prayer with our first child, the daughter who was born 
premature, who showed us how worthwhile fighting for life is, to the 
birth of our son, to the birth of our youngest daughter, this one who 
had the baby, to helping me through open heart surgery so I might have 
this chance to hold another generation in my hands.
  I think of the Prayer of Jabez in Chronicles where he says: Lord, 
please continue to bless me, indeed. And I add my thanks for this and 
all the blessings noticed and, unfortunately, often unnoticed.
  So now I am a grampa. That is not grandfather. That is too stilted. 
Years ago, my daughter gave me a hand-stitched wall hanging that says: 
``Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.''
  That is a challenge for grampas to live up to, too. Please note the 
name is not ``grandpa.'' That is a great title, but it is a little too 
elevated. As I said before, my name, grampa, is spelled with an ``m'' 
and no ``d.'' That is what I called my Grampa Bradley who took me on 
some wonderful adventures and taught me a lot of important lessons.
  Now it is my turn to live up to that valued name. He liked to be 
called grampa, and I am now delighted to have the opportunity to earn 
that name. I wish I could adequately share the joy with you that is in 
my heart.
  After Megan was born, I went to the Republican Convention. When I 
spoke, I mentioned my mom's admonition that I need to pass on to my 
grandchildren; that is, to do what is right, to do your best, to treat 
others as they want to be treated. I use that guideline every day and 
expect everyone on my staff to measure legislation and casework by it 
too.
  Now I have an additional measure for myself. I don't ever want my 
grandkids to say: My grampa could have fixed that, but he didn't. I do 
know that most of what I do fix they will never know about. That is how 
America is supposed to work. America is a lot of people doing their 
job, doing it because it needs to be done, not because someone will 
give them acclaim.
  Some would say that you, my granddaughter, Megan Riley McGrady, have 
been born at a scary time, a time of fear, fear of almost everybody, 
fear of war, fear of people from other countries, fear for our 
neighborhoods, worry about energy supplies and energy prices and the 
effect on food prices.
  As an Enzi, we have faith that doing the right thing, doing our best, 
and treating others as they want to be treated will solve most problems 
which will overcome fear.
  In my job, I get to hear lots of disparaging comments about our 
country and our Government, but you, granddaughter, were very lucky to 
be born in this country. I have been to a lot of places in the world 
now, and I can tell you that there are none that I would trade for the 
United States. In my job, I often have to remind people that I never 
hear about anybody trying to get out of our country, but I do hear of 
millions who would love to live here.
  As you get older, precious baby, if things don't change, you will 
hear people who think Government owes them a living and all kinds of 
guarantees, and you will hear people portray business as greedy, and 
you will see attempts to keep faith and God out of your vocabulary. And 
all those things could come to pass, except for you, you and your 
family, you and others who will know how to do the right thing and will 
value the way our country was founded and has grown.
  Megan, granddaughter, welcome to this world of promise and hope and 
faith and love. Your whole family is excited to have you in our lives.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Presiding Officer congratulates and shares 
in the joy of the senior Senator from Wyoming.

[[Page 11176]]



                          ____________________