It’s Official

Candy blogs: It’s official! I’m finally going to be a grandma! I’ve been talking about it for so long, now it’s time to settle some longings into thoughts and actions.

Our daughter and SIL will make us grandparents early next May. They’ve been married for three years and we have tried not to inundate them with when’s. On a day not so long ago in September we had our kids and their honeys over for Sunday dinner to celebrate my husband’s birthday. After dinner we went to the living room to visit. Our daughter brought out a big gift bag which, of course, we assumed was for her dad’s birthday.

The first instructions were not to open the card yet. So when he opened the bag out came TWO tee shirts … hmmm … Abbey said one was for mom. I unfolded it and there is was!

Hugs-to-comfort
Kisses-to-plant
Love-to-give
Grandma-to-Be!

And there was Scott’s shirt with a computer progress bar …

Grandpa-to-Be Loading … please wait

All four kids stared at me, holding their breath, waiting for the screams and giggles they were expecting. But I sat there with my mouth wide open and not a word came out for a full minute. I was just stunned. I’d been trying not to think about it for so long and now it was here. What had just happened?! My baby girl was going to have a baby. I finally came to and we started the hug fest.

It turns out that the card was actually the ultrasound picture! We could see the little Barinaga baby right then!

I do look a little dazed …

And, just like all grandparents-to-be before me, I have had trouble thinking of anything else since that day.

We want our children to experience parenthood …

As our kids grew up and left home, the “circle of life” became more meaningful to Scott and me. Our primary job was done. The kids were raised. Bring on the empty nest! And we have had ourselves a great life so far as empty-nesters! But always in the back of our minds was our aging parents and grandpeople.

We want our children to experience the joys of parenthood … to wonder at the miracle of new life … to elevate their oneness to a new level … to hold life in their hands and stare into the eyes of the past, present and future … to take their place as part of the ages.

My grandparents meant so much to me …

I’ve always been very aware of the “timeline” of the ages. Even as a child I was focused on listening to family stories and saving memoribilia and taking pictures and putting them in photo albums. I always had a sense of the importance of the past and being responsible for my portion of the timeline.

My great grandparents and grandparents left behind a beautiful legacy of photographs and journals and albums and family Bibles. I deeply loved and respected them. In just a few days will mark 14 years since my beloved Grandpa Ken passed away. Grandma Blanche followed 18 months later. I spent much of my life with them all the way through high school.

Grandma sent me $20 every month when I was away at college. They encouraged, protected, nurtured, affirmed and accepted me. They made me sing solos and gave me piano lessons. They told me Bible stories. The prayed over me until the day they died. They pointed me to Jesus Christ and laid the foundation for a lifetime of ministry. I can’t imagine my life without their influence.

I want to be that kind of grandparent. I want to honor them by continuing their legacy in my portion of the timeline. I will tell my little grandpeople about those who came before them and the God they served.

The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children’s children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future. ~Charles and Ann Morse

your grandma-in-waiting …