You Need To Be a Grandparent

An open letter to a dear friend and someone who knew more about me than I did myself:

Not so long ago, a very wise man made it abundantly clear to me that I needed to be a grandmother.  You and I would argue back and forth about this notion.  My answer was always no, it wasn't necessary.  I didn't want my children having children just so I could be a grandmother. Well, I am here to say that you were right, Dan!  After only a couple years of my new title as Grandma Tere, I believe that I really was made for this grandparenting thing and that I did NEED to be a grandmother.  

I have never been happier with any phase of my existence than I am right now.  And it is all because of these two little beings who share my life. Just being with them brings me utter and complete joy.  I am constantly in a state of bliss. Callie's laughter has a direct line to my heart and I can't stop myself from giggling over Lucia's babbling conversations.  I love everything about being a grandparent and I can’t get enough of it. 

Our weekly date night has very little to do with Maria and Bill going out together; it’s all about my special alone time with the girls.  It is a chance for them to know who I am in their lives and for me to marvel at their unique personalities.  We play, we talk, we laugh our deep belly laughs that echo their way into my very being.  I hold onto the simplest memories of our time together; playing train or farm or dollhouse, baking cookies, eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate.  They become what sustains me until we are together to do it all over again.     

It is hard for me to think of a time when I was without them in my life.  How empty it must have been!  And how sad you must have been to hear me say over and over again that I didn’t need to play this role; that I didn’t need to have this unbridled love throwing me back into life.  I laugh and cry now more than I ever have.  I see the world through little eyes and short legs and it is filled with awe and beauty.  I have never loved anyone more deeply and completely than I do these two beautiful girls.  How lucky I am to be in this time and place where I have the honor of sitting back and watching these two lives unfold before my very eyes.  I am truly blessed.

Every time I get that little twinge in my heart over something they have done or said or some new thing that they can do, I think of you and I remember.  I remember over and over again your words and your deep desire for me to experience all of this.  I smile and say to myself, Dan was right.  He was so very right.