They fly so fast, Grammy!

A three-year old boy can seldom be depended upon to be still and quiet. He can seldom wait until something will happen, but my grandson Thomas will watch carefully while life buzzes around him. He examines, analyzes, and finds it.

My "girls" (gr-daughters) were eleven and nine at the time, and he thought they were his, that they belonged to him. Between them, they filled our house with joy.

In 2015, my little man walked with me to meet a friend across the street from our house. He and his parental units were visiting from England, so we raced about from ocean to museums to playground to...

But, this day Thomas was mine to enjoy. And that was what we found across the street: amazement.

She wasn't home, but her hummingbirds were. Thomas squatted down quietly like a statue, wordless and eyes wide open. They were there, in their bold flight. Thomas held his hands folded in his lap, watching intently. And I watched him.

We didn't go back, why I don't know. Thomas wanted to see my friend who was gone for a few days. But the hummingbirds were there and we didn't go to see them.

Instead, Thomas ran and played with his cousins. They laughed, threw stuff, read books. I laughed, but I didn't throw stuff.

I watched them, my "girls" and my "little man". Good times.

For the next few postings, we will be heading back to the Cow Chipping Country to visit my brother. Please leave a comment, simply because I like to hear your thoughts. 

So far away

I'm in the northern yellow, Mary is in the green

Living 12,000 miles away from my daughter sometimes hurts so bad that my shoulders droop and my heart breaks.  So far away, I am not there to teach her many things that my mother taught me: history of Mom’s adventures, stories from my childhood, how to make a pie—and, not there to rock her little boy and sing him songs my mother sang to me.

So we watch that little boy Benjamin play, talk, cry, and grow up over the computer and hear how our daughter Mary is doing in Switzerland.  

Recently she stepped in a pothole while crossing the street, fell and twisted her ankle.  Benjamin looked down at her right next to him, still holding his hand.  He moved so he could sit on her lap and pat her shoulder, and hug her.  It’s alright, Mummy.  It’s alright.

Facebook is good as a tool to see what they are doing.  Richard, Mary, and Benjamin went to a petting zoo recently, where the goats received more than they deserved, bags of goat feed to buy; those goats were well padded.  He patted their furry goat butts, and gave them all the love and smiles that weren’t mine.

To be so very far away and watch a two year old become a three year old is a year he grew up and I grew older. 

Dang it.