Most grandparents have an advantage over parents in one respect- we have long ago gotten over ourselves and we do the silliest things without batting an eye to get a giggle from our grands. Most parents, even the fun loving ones, hesitate to be thought undignified, especially when anyone’s watching. I remember my own daddy …
Seasoned With Salt
Salt is a funny thing. It preserves in large quantities but only a small bit seasons an entire meal. A mouth full of seawater is much worse than lake water, yet warm salt water makes the perfect rinse for a sore throat. Consuming too much salt can quickly create a health crisis but so can …
Repurposing Rejection
One of my favorite local restaurants is closing soon so I gave myself permission to enjoy it more than once this week. I shared a meal with my daughter and granddaughter on Wednesday while the news media was on site gathering the community’s response to the closing announcement. I invited them to join me again …
Shake Off The Dust
My least favorite job of the week falls on bath day for the Great Danes. No, I’m not responsible for the actual bathing. They outgrew me long ago. My husband has managed that task since our son married. My job is to wash their bedding. I hold my breath as I stand on the edge …
Clinging To Rags
My granddaughter and I play a game called find the paci. I’ve learned not to wait until bedtime or naptime to make the search. Each time she wakes, before I even lift her out of the crib, I make a big deal of searching for her pacifier. She has usually tossed it aside during her …
Do What Must Be Done
“”Where have you been?” Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant. “We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied, “but we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel to ask him where they were.” “Oh? And what did he say?” his uncle asked. “He told us that the donkeys had already been found,” Saul …
Different By God’s Design
As a first time momma living in temporary housing with my husband and young son, I experienced one of the scariest feelings ever. What started overnight with a meal that disagreed with me ended with being taken by my husband to the emergency room with severe dehydration and food poisoning. The scary part was that …
Holding Onto Hope
My granddaughter is a year old and so full of life! Her parents call it energy. She’s a busy bee. She’s rarely ever still. She climbs everything and talks constantly. She and the Great Danes have an understanding. She’s the boss. She keeps up with her two year old cousin. She is so much like …
Pockets Filled With Holes
If Jacob was gifted cash for his birthday, he knew what he wanted before he ever reached the store. If he received a gift card, he was usually bargaining with his dad before the party was over, ready to trade it for cash because he already had the money spent. As my dad said of …
Creating Division
My grandson unknowingly exposed a quirk of mine as he’s begun to talk, quite possibly one I’ve unwittingly passed on to his mother. His words come full speed now in groups of two or three, repeating everyone and everything. My daughter noticed that he would not say shoes and when she asked him what they …
A Fitting Reply 