I got a big chuckle out of reading the "gramma" posts, so bear with me while I resurrect it! Until my first grandchild was born 25 years ago I didn't know I could love someone else's kids that much! Six months later my other daughter had a little boy and suddenly here I was, 38 years old and grandmother to two amazing little guys, Jamie and Austin! I remember looking up at the sky and thinking, "God, what are you DOING? I'm only 38 and a grandmother?" Now I know - He knew I was going to end up raising two of them. We raised Jamie, our oldest, off and on from the time he was 2 years old and then when he was 10 we took custody of him and his little sister, Little Diane. Jamie is now married to an amazing young woman with a baby of his own and is a nuclear reactor operator on board a US Submarine. Our second grandson, born 6 months after Jamie, was killed in a car accident last year. He and his wife had only been married 9 months when the front axle on his car failed on the interstate. She was fine, but he didn't survive. Our granddaughter, Little Diane, is now 19 and doing very well living out on her own.
My son, his wife, and their two daughters, Katie (8) and Kendra (2 1/2 years old), live across the street from us, and my older daughter - the one who lost her son last year - lives two blocks down with her 8 year old son Evan. Kendra was born with Spina Bifida. God forgot to tell her she has a disability, and we aren't going to tell her either!
The hardest part of raising Jamie and Little Diane was not getting to be a "Coco Puffs gramma". A "Coco Puffs gramma" is one who, when the grands turn up their noses at meatloaf and green beans, gets to say, "Okay, I'll fix you some Coco Puffs...just don't tell your mom!" LOL Nope, I had to make them eat the meatloaf and green beans. They forgave me.
And the talk of memories is special to me. We take Evan and Katie to Yellowstone every year, and do all kinds of other things together. Even a simple trip to Billings to stock up on supplies is special when they are with us. I turn to them and say, "What are we doing, guys?" And in unison they chime, "Makin' memories!"
When we ordered the chicks, Katie and Evan, on their own, decided that Kendra would get to see them first. That plan was torpedoed when Kendra's doctors thought she'd be having surgery a few days later, so Evan and Katie got to see them first. But her doctor called and told us to let that baby see the chicks - and she was captivated. And now that I've probably worn out my welcome on the front porch, I'll scoot on out.
Come on down and set next to me on the porch I loved your story. We can share grandbaby stories all afternoon.
Signed: Nana to 6.
