Precious Moments

Got a glimpse of Jan's life yesterday. Got home about 3:30, just in time to console Jolie (9) who has decided she doesn't like going to dance class on Thursdays. Jan had a hair appointment, so I then went and picked up Jeslyn from ESP, came home so she could change into her gymnastics gear, then drove her to her gymnastics class at 4:30. On the way I discovered there are no green lights between our house and SCATS, about 8 miles away. Dropped Jes off, picked up Jolie who had survived dance class and brought her home. Jeff picked her up about 5:30. Jan gets tired of these "chores" from time to time, because it brings back the days of parenting young ones, when their schedule supercedes yours (if you do it right). But those couple of hours were not without precious little memories for me.

1. When I picked up the previously miserable Jolie, she took my hand as we walked to the car and said, "Thanks for picking me up, grampa." Unspoken, but felt, was, "I'm sorry I was so upset before, because I know you get upset, too, when I'm unhappy."

2. When I picked up Jeslyn, she surprised me by saying, "I'm marking my calendar, grampa, and you only have 25 days left of school." She's 5. She's not really excited FOR me in my impending retirement, she's excited because I'll be able to pick her up most days after first grade, and I won't be stuck at a game or a meeting that would cause me to miss all of my grampa time. I'm going through a "good grampa" stage at this time, and she seems to cherish every minute she gets to spend with me. I plan to wide that wave for as long as it lasts!