From the Heart
I’ve been a grandmother for over 20 years. I’ve often wondered … what are the littles thinking?
Now I know.
You see, when we were opening our Christmas presents on New Year’s Day I received a book. “What I love about Grandma Janet”.
I will tell you that it tipped over my Comfort and Joy Bucket. For several months they had been discussing ways to fill in the blanks in the book.
I had no idea what they saw in me and how they felt … until I read the book
Favorite food that I make? Sugar Cream Pie
Describe Grandma Janet with a dance … the waltz. Sassy and classy and intelligent. Now, that’s funny.
Favorite place to hang out with me? My home. Yes, my little house on the alley. They said that it was warm and cozy. (sigh)
Place they like to go with me? Church. They loved that I would always take them to church with me. Many a Saturday night all four would spend the night with me. I would wake up early on Sunday morning, bake cinnamon rolls and get them dressed.
Getting them dressed was often like herding cats. Find the shoes and match the socks. Clean up spilled milk. Wipe sticky fingers and mouths. Wrestle with coats, hats and gloves. Change a diaper or two. When they were all finally potty trained, I did the Happy Day Dance.
The absolute biggest struggle was car seats. Ugh. Wrangle. Wrestle, Wipe sweat, even when it was snowing. Mumble words. Pinch fingers (mostly mine) and say a few prayers. “Lord, I hope you are watching.”
When we got to church I got them signed in and stickers on them to identify them as belonging to me. We made our way to four classes. Many times two were upstairs on opposite sides of the building and two were on the first floor. I had to sign them in their classes and pick a cubby hole for the two littlest to put their bags and coats in. Once in a while I had to pry their arms from my neck but mostly they loved going in their classes.
I would make my way into the sanctuary and collapse into my seat … and smile. I knew that scripture said that if you trained up a child in the way he/she should go … when he/she was old, they would not forget it.
I taught them their meal blessings. I taught them “Now I lay me down to sleep …”
So when one of the questions they answered in the book was “what do you appreciate the most that your grandma taught you?” I had to catch my breath. The answer was … to pray. I choked back the tears.
I had no idea this would be their thoughts. Twenty year old Matt. Nineteen year old Alecksa. Fourteen year old Abby. Twelve year old Jake. They all had the same thoughts. They actually came up with 50 things they loved about me.
If you ever want to do something special for your grandparents I suggest doing just what these littles did for me this Christmas.
They are not the only ones doing the remembering. Grandma Janet did too. It was worth every pinched finger and messy diaper. It’s been quite the twenty years to remember.