Grandparents

I can't believe how long it's been since I last blogged. Work is starting to interfer with my blogging. That is definitely not good.

Today I get to babysit. It's always fun to spend a few hours with my favorite little girl. What is going to be an experience is this weekend. I am going to have my precious grandbaby for the whole weekend. This is big. This will be a first time for both of us. I hope she's ready for this. I hope I'm ready for this.

My children spent lots of time with their grandparents. That was one of the advantages of living so close to them. I enjoyed the nights that they spent at their grandparents houses and I know how much it meant to their grandparents. That is such a special relationship. I know how important those memories are for my children. I want those memories for my granddaughter too.

Everything is ready. I have the milk, the chicken nuggets and the goldfish. I have the toys ready to be played with. I have warned the dog that she is coming. All we need is the baby.

As I have said before, I didn't see my grandparents very often. When I have about four years old my father was sent to Korea. My mother and I moved to California to be closer to my father's parents. I have some memories of that time.

One memory is being at my grandparents house while my two cousins were there. Jimmy and Jeff. My parents did not get along very well with my Aunt Madeline. In fact, in later years, my father would disown her. I remember that my grandmother was rocking the other children one by one and putting them down for a nap. She asked me to let her rock me for a little while. That she knew that I didn't need a nap but that it would help with the little ones. I remember her holding me as she rocked. I didn't go to sleep but she talked to me as she rocked me back and forth. Thinking back, I think that was more for her than the little ones. That's one of the few times she was able to hold and rock me. That's so sad. Especially when I think of the hours I have spent rocking and hold my granddaughter. I treasure every minute of that time. I never realized how much my grandmother missed out on with our being so far away. The first time I spent the night with my grandparents was when I was 14 just before we left to spend three years in Germany.

My closeness was not with my grandparents but with my grandmother's father. My Great-Grandpa Brown. Most of my memories are of him. I would love to sit on the porch swing and talk to him. We would just swing and talk. I don't remember what we talked about. I know he talked a lot about the old days. The thing I remember is that he always made me feel like what I said was important. I also remember that he loved to play solitaire and it would bother me that he cheated when he didn't think I was looking. I remember coming home from trick or treating on Halloween when I was seven and my parents getting the telephone call that he had died in his sleep. I'm so thankful for the time I got to spend with him.