The wheels on the bus go round and round and the song goes on in the same vein. My grand-kids sang this song over and over on our way to Michigan this past weekend. It was such sweet music to my ears, no matter how off key they sang it or Itsy Bitsy Spider or some silly song about an alligator. My husband and I laughed till our stomachs hurt as they performed for hours on end in the long car ride. The children derived such delight from our continued praise and adoration of their musical talent and our uncontrollable laughter.
This is the stuff that makes life so wonderful. In spite of all the wrinkles looking back at
me in the mirror, I am glad I am here and aging. If I weren't I would not be a
grandma and have these kids in my life.
Who cares about varicose veins, fat deposits on the legs and
elsewhere. Kids that look at me with
adoration make the world look like nothing but blue skies. My grand-kids are like the best tasting
chocolate I have ever tasted; my heart literally melts around them. Their trust is so complete, and their love
so unconditional that is instills in me that faith I once had and lost in the human race. It is so easy in your early
thirties and forties to lose it. They also are keen at manipulating me so
utterly and easily at the drop of their head and tear from an eye. As my
daughter” I am so whipped.”
This past month Jim and I have spent some extended time with
our grand-kids.This has led to some
special memories. I tried to capture
them in pictures but it never really does it justice. Film does not capture audio, the sound of
their young voices, their non-verbal’s, the lilt when they speak, the
fluttering of their eye lashes when they are questioning life, the excitement in their voice and face when they are excited about something as small as
catching a firefly for the first time. Especially
priceless to me are the Grandma I love you’s, or as my grandson Kaleb says
“Grandma you are so beautiful” translated to “Thank you for loving me so completely Grandma.” They let me know, if I die tomorrow, I have accomplished my mission, which I firmly believe was part of God’s wish for me.
Passing out love and leaving it behind for others. My grand-kids will be givers of goodwill and
love to others. I hope that is part of
my legacy. I sometimes feel it is not coincidental
both of my children choose careers in the healthcare profession as well for
that very reason. I like to think their main motivation was to do what they can
to help others. They often tell me stories of how, in their roles, as Nurse Practitioner
and Dentist, they do just that.
Jim and I would not get this time with our grandchildren if
it were not for our adult children allowing and entrusting us with their
care. We are blessed in that way for the faith, love
and fostering of the relationship and the bonding they encourage. We are
always permitted to be an active integral part of their lives. This matters so much to us. Having had cancer and having lost an adult
child, we both know life can be gone with one puff of a candle. Tomorrow is not promised. Sometimes adult children can make it hard to
get close to grandchildren. We have a
few were we know far too little about.
My children allow us to know everything up to the littlest minute detail
of their life. I think this also helps
their children feel more secure knowing someone else knows and has their
backside besides their parents.
It also, as we age, keeps us young at heart and lets us
impart some of our wisdom and love onto their young hearts and minds. And our love for them is beyond words, beyond
anything we can even attempt to express.
It adds a new dimension to
getting older which is indeed beautiful and precious. As a friend of mine said
when she adopted her grandson, having a child when you are older is indeed
different, the wisdom of being older makes your relationship with children
indeed different. It is a benefit in some ways to a child. Thus, the
relationship with a grandparent is an important one too, for both sides!
The video I put together is a few of the images we took of with
the kids. A few of them are actually
ones the kids took with our camera or cell phone! When
we are gone, I hope they will always remember both of us with a smile. I hope
these images remind them of our feelings towards them. Then they will surely
know our love was a love without end.
And then they may just possibly hear, if they sit real still and
reflect, the sound of us singing from heaven, those priceless songs of their
youth! Then they can sit and laugh with
glee like we did when they were young and singing to us, all those years gone
by.
