Letters to Cade

The grandson I used to write those RG columns about each year turns 19 today

Cade wake-surfing at Lake Billy Chinook in his Sheldon High Class of 2023 graduation garb.

WHEN CADE WELCH was born at the old Sacred Heart Hospital near the University of Oregon in 2005 I’d been a columnist at The Register-Guard for nearly six years. Naturally, I had to write about our first grandchild.

I wrote about his arrival at 2:34 a.m. on Monday, May 2. About his mother Susan staring at her newborn with awe, then whispering, “Hey, I’m your Mom.” And about those of us who had been out in the hallway being so zealous with enthusiasm that, once allowed in, the celebration got wild. In a column I wrote:

Cameras clicked. Cell calls made. Hugs and high fives exchanged. The commotion reached such a pitch that a nurse politely flagged us for excessive celebration, the patient next door needing some sleep.

Until leaving The R-G in 2013, each year I’d write a Dear-Cade column on his birthday. I’d tell a bit about his life, and the lives of our other grandchildren who arrived later.

It seems incredible that Cade, the kid who started it all, turns 19 today. He’s a freshman at Linfield University in McMinnville. So I thought I’d honor him by offering readers a little background on—and an update of—him.

First, some context. Cade is the son of the former Susan Anderson and our older son, Ryan, who met at Sheldon High in the mid-’90s. Ryan attended Linfield, Susan Oregon State. But like She Who (Oregon State) and I (Oregon), they weathered the long-distance relationship.

After Ryan and Susan’s wedding in 2001, She Who and I returned home to find one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever received: a note from Ryan thanking us for being good parents. Attached was a $10 gift certificate for Burrito Boy.

I cried.

Four years later, I cried again when Cade arrived. Because Susan and Ryan worked, She Who and I—along with Susan’s parents, Wally and Neda, who also live in Eugene—were needed to watch Cade.