When Grandma’s on a mission

A grandmother’s love is slathered over every fear and anxious moment so that she can love her grandchildren well. JHL

Janet: You have a mission. Should you choose to accept it, you will earn another star in your Grandma Janet crown.

And so, when Emily asked me to fly down to Tampa to be on grandma duty while she trained in Louisville for her new position with an oncology pharmaceutical company, and Drew would be in Seattle for AWS work … I accepted the mission.

The things you need to know about me are …

1. Driving in Tampa traffic makes me nervous.
2. Driving in the dark makes me nervous.
3. Making multiple turns in an unfamiliar area makes me nervous.
4. Being on a tight schedule to get one teenager to one school and back to the house to pick up another teenager for another school makes me nervous.

For two mornings, I had a two-hour window to get Aiden and Leah to school successfully. You need to understand that on a good traffic morning, Aiden’s school is an hour away from where he lives.

Emily reminded me to use WAZE to find the “quickest” route to Tampa Jesuit.

I left their home in Wesley Chapel at 6:30 a.m. The sun had not even begun to peek over the horizon.

Here is what WAZE told me: Take 75 South to 275 West. Turn right onto Fowler. Go ¾ around the roundabout onto Boulevard. Take a right onto Sligh. Take a left onto Rome. Take a right onto Hillsborough. Take a left onto Macdill. Take a left onto Emerald. You have arrived at your destination. Whew!

When I turned left onto Rome, I had to cross three lanes of traffic without a stoplight. I was at their mercy to stop. There is no let-up in the oncoming traffic. Emily told me later that some drivers get out of their cars and hit the pedestrian button on the median to stop traffic so they can turn left. I’m still trying to figure out that one.

Now, mind you, Emily is watching our location on Aiden’s 360 AP. I get a text. “Mom, you made it.” Lord, have mercy, my nerves are in shambles. But we made it.

I prayed quite a few Protestant Prayers on the way to Tampa Jesuit.

The crazy thing is that the trip back to Emily’s takes about 35 minutes. Does that tell you what the inbound traffic is like?

Next, the mission was to take Leah to school. The drop-off car line at her middle school is a lesson in extreme patience. Their system causes some parents to break the car-line rules. Have I told you that I’m a rule follower?

I might have rewarded myself with a jelly donut from Target. I was picking up a bouquet of flowers to surprise Emily when she got home. I enjoyed every bite of that sinfully sweet guilty pleasure.

Our columnist was tasked with ensuring her grandchildren, Aiden and Leah, go to their schools safely. (Photos provided by Janet Hart Leonard)

On the second day, I decided to look at an old-fashioned map. No, not the fold-up paper map, but the map on Waze. It would take a few minutes longer with more stop-and-go traffic, but the route was simple: turn right off 275 onto Hillsborough, then left onto Himes. Just the simple directions calmed my anxiety.

I accomplished my mission. Both kids got to school on time both days. Would I do it again? Of course, I would.

There are still missions for me to take on. It’s not really about the stars in my Grandma Janet crown but about the love I have for my family. When they need me, I will accept the mission. However, I do prefer missions during daylight, and I need simple directions.

There will be more jelly donuts to be rewarded with. And BTW, this week in Wesley Chapel, the world’s largest Target just opened.

Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.