My mother had a beautiful young friend who babysat for us when I was a girl. She was one of those rare souls who loved purely and simply, who readily shared a smile and laughter even while she was hiding her own pain. Her life was cut short by cancer, but she blessed all who …
What On Earth Are You Doing?
“What is he saying?” my husband asked. “Lightbulb bump,” our toddler grandson repeated. He had just heard me relay a message from his mother. The lightbulb in the guest bathroom is out, and the sun shades on the back porch were bumping all night in the wind. Would he change the bulb and roll up …
Numbered
Meeting GrannyBob 💕 Last week, I attempted a family tree for Thomas, tracing back through the generations still living on both sides of his family. He wasn’t necessarily following, but it was fun to write out all the names he knows and have him recognize them by their first letters. He has a great great …
Focusing On Fear
My grandson woke suddenly after midnight screaming, “I need you, Mommy, I need you!” I keep the monitor for her to get a good night’s sleep when I can, and sometimes I can console him. Sometimes he just needs his mommy to calm down. I’ve wakened from dreams with my heart literally racing. I’ve wakened …
Eyes To See
New grand-babies means additional car seats and I believe in being prepared, so I used some of my Christmas bonus bucks to order the first one last week. It’s stored away in the guest closet and I have the bruises to prove it. When I hoisted the box chest-high to clear the footboard and stepped …
Wait For It
Contemplative. If one word could define a person, this is me. My mom recalls my first grade teacher (also her first grade teacher) informing her that I routinely stared out the window of her classroom. She thought I was daydreaming, but when she asked a direct question of me, I promptly gave the correct response. …
Pray For Me
We got the creeping crud for Christmas. Three working in the medical field combined with coming together after various family gatherings means germs are rampant, and general lack of sleep during the holidays adds insult to injury. By the time our grandson woke up on the morning after Christmas with a high fever, he knew …
Finally Finished
Done! That feeling of relief or of exasperation you get when the thing happens that you’ve been plugging away at steadily, or in the case of my right knee, unexpectedly gives out again. After nearly forty years of managing an odd catch somewhere in the anatomy of my right knee, I had learned not to …
There’s Time
Single digits in the countdown to Christmas for an adult means everything seems to move faster, but for a child, the days creep by at a sloth’s pace, same as ever. There’s no real hurry and twenty-four hours lasts just as long as it always does, there’s just that sense of urgency that presses in …
Eye To Eye
Little Amelia points to the floor next to her and says, “Sit down, Lolly.” She has a game she wants to play or a book to read, or maybe she just backs up into my lap or grabs me around the neck and gives me the biggest hug she can muster. When we’re playing outside, …
A Fitting Reply 