The Blessings of Generations

Last week I wrote about getting to hang out with Ava and Cal soon, and it has since happened. What a true blessing it was to have 4 generations together for a short time: Mom, my sis and I, my nephew and my great niece and nephew. The older I get, the more I realize that times like these are not to be taken for granted or minimized. Things can radically change with the blink of and eye or the passing of a day. Sieze what is there in the here and now.

Mom is stable, but not mobile. It's not easy for her to go about daily living. She needs someone to help her into bed, out of bed, into a chair, out of a chair. She lives in a small room and misses her belongings from home and her old friends. She misses her mate. She misses her freedom. She misses privacy. She misses her home state of Colorado. But what came as a very unexpected surprise is that she DIDN'T miss the experience of living to see great-grandchildren in her lifetime...something she never expected.They light up her life like nothing else!

Here's Mom with her daughters, her grandson, Ryan, and the "greats" Cal and Ava. See how she's smiling? (We had a good ratio of wheel-riders to wheel-pushers, thankfully.)

Here's my sister...the lucky Grammy! (The above picture was taken at the little zoo we visited after lunch with Mom.) Believe you me, I am learning a lot from her ways as a Grandmother. She gave the kids cookies FIRST as we went to a meal together with my Mom. She has a bag full of books, toys and such to entertain Ava and Cal. And when Cal ate all his ice cream and stickified (is that a word?) his shirt, Diann was the first to come up with the idea to blow dry the shirt in the bathroom with the hand dryer! Cal would survive being shirtless for a little bit..no worries.

Uncle Ryan is so very tender with Cal and Ava. He's patient, great with explanations, and interested in getting to know his young niece and nephew...and they love him right back.

Being able to watch and interact with these two young "greats" was just that...great!

And I know, I just know, that my Mom is glad she could live long enough to see her children's children have children! Can you tell that I am loving being a Great Aunt, too? Again, blessings.