Writer’s Block
Nothing compares to the awe and wonder of being a first-time grandma
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara was born in Windsor as one of eight children. At the age of 20, she married her husband Ted and they moved around a fair bit due to his employment. Their family grew to include three children, four grandchildren, three step-grandchildren and one great-grandchild. After retiring, Barbara and Ted enjoyed camping and travelling. They have been fortunate to see a lot of this great country from coast to coast. The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in May.
Our first grandchild is coming for her very first overnight visit tomorrow and I’m all in a twitter. I want to put a big sign in the driveway and add some balloons so that she will feel welcome. I want to tell everyone I meet, including the clerk at our local grocery store, “Guess who’s coming to our house and staying overnight?”
Am I really the same person who listened with resigned amusement as my friend talked non-stop about her first grandchild on our daily walks a few years back?
I saw “lovely little Lauren” (that’s what I call her) only two days ago and I am already looking forward to seeing her again. I can hardly wait to hold that warm little body in my arms, to feel her soft cheek against mine and to feel that downy-like strawberry blonde head snuggling down into my neck. I want to feel once again the wonder of new birth as I gaze in awe at those perfect little fingers. Were our children really that tiny when they were born?
I often wonder what this little one is thinking as she searches my face for so long, with the occasional little smile forming at the corners of her tiny rosebud
mouth. Is she asking herself, “Who is this funny looking old lady who keeps telling me how pretty I am, and how much everyone loves me? Am I really? Do they really? And who is this lady who sings those soft croony-like songs that make me feel sleepy? My mommy and daddy play loud, bouncy music for me, not this kind of stuff! And who is that man she is always with? How come when they come to see Mommy and Daddy, they get all teary when they see me? Are they really my mommy and daddy’s mommy and daddy? How come they both have hair and my daddy doesn’t? Boy, as soon as I can talk, am I ever going to ask a lot of questions!”
Yes, I really have been bitten by the grandma bug. Me, who lists sleeping as one of those things that rate high on my list of hobbies, who longs for my warm, comfortable bed as soon as the clock approaches
11 p.m., am actually looking forward to getting up at 5 a.m. and giving her a bottle. Just think, I get her all to myself for a whole night and the next day to boot! Well, maybe I’m being a little selfish, maybe I’ll let her granddad change her dirty diaper.
I once read that grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for growing old. Well, I now know that it’s more than just compensation. It’s being given the chance to once again relieve the joy and thankfulness I felt when we were blessed with our children; it’s reliving the warmth that flowed through me when I held our own children in my arms, and feeling the joy and pride that only a newborn can give. It is looking at your grandchild’s face, as you did your own children’s faces, and experiencing love. Yes, I’ve been bitten by a bug— but I’ve never before enjoyed a bug so much!