Memories and Grandchildren ...

Owen

Between the two of us, Robert and I have four children.  All live in four different states, which is why at first we choose to live in central Pennsylvania.

Last weekend, we drove to Connecticut to see two of my daughters and six grandchildren.

Last month, we headed down to North Carolina to visit my youngest daughter and her three children.  They're always whirlwind visits, but I can't complain.  The time we get to spend together is so important and it's always worth the trip.

Tyler and Jack

 As I was having coffee early this morning, I thought about those visits.  I always bring so much more home with me than what I took along when we're with children and grandchildren.  I'm not talking about material things.

What I treasure are the things we share, the memories we make.  It doesn't matter whether I'm sitting on the floor with Jack building a Lego house, reading to Tyler and Halloran, giving out hugs and kisses for heart pockets, or telling Lauren all about the great-grandmother she's the spitting image of.  What we're really doing is creating memories.

Liam, Kev, Colin and Lauren

 I remember the innocence and wonder of childhood.  Who we were as children isn't who we are now, we grow and change, and yet, we are exactly the same.

Time is the only thing that is different.  One day then was as long as twenty days are now.  The things that mattered to then, I still remember, because they matter even more now.

All of my grandparents are gone now, and so are my parents, but the memories we made are always with me.

Andrew

What I remember most about my grandparents was the time they spent with me.  It didn't matter what we were doing.  The talking and sharing while we were doing whatever we did -- that is what was important.  They spent time with me and it felt good.

Will and Matty

 I love watching my grandchildren playing, pretending, or just enjoying being kids.  It brings back so many memories.

Being a child is believing in love and magic, believing that fairies do exist, and it is believing in believing.  

It is pretending to be so little that elves can whisper in our ear, and it's about turning pumpkins into coaches, mice into horses, and nothing into everything, because every child has a fairy godmother in its soul ... and a grandmother for a best friend.

Halloran

Well, Robert and I moved again.  Now we're in Florida, but I can tell you I'm already looking for my next adventure when my grandchildren come for a visit.

I need that -- but what's more important is, they need that even more.



"A writer soon learns that easy to read is hard to write." ~CJ Heck