As a kid I remember adults telling me that the older I got, the faster the days, months and years will fly by. It’s true.
Today is September 1, 2021 and many kids are going back to school. That includes my twelve year-old granddaughter. I refer to her as Miss V. Her mother texted me a picture of her standing on the fireplace hearth at home and holding a sign that said ‘First Day of 7th Grade.’
That simply cannot be. It was yesterday that I received a frantic call from my son that the ‘normal delivery’ was now going to be an emergency C-section. I left work and raced to the hospital. Everybody was fine. My son was exhausted from being up all night. I sent him off to get some sleep. Mom was sleeping from being up all night and the C-section. That left me and Miss V…who was also sleeping.
A nurse came in and said I was welcome to stay so I sat in the rocking chair next to the bed. The nurse handed me my granddaughter and a doll-sized bottle of formula. I held her for about 8 hours with intermittent feedings and diaper changes. The hospital room was almost dark except for the TV that was quietly on.
So now fast forward to a 7th grader, aged twelve…but going on 30. She says words that I have never heard of so I Google them. Miss V is strong-willed, knows what she does and does not like, and although her parents as well as myself are outgoing, gregarious people, she has a shy side.
This past May I was proud to perform the wedding ceremony for my oldest granddaughter, Savannah. She is 21. Again, it is simply not possible that she is 21.
Since I always wanted to be the type of grandma that I didn’t have, I made sure I was involved in her life as much as I could considering she lived 5+ hours away. I surprised her at a school event one time, and I showed up for her prom so I could personally see her in the beautiful gown she chose. She entered the Wisconsin State Fair Culinary Challenge with me for several years and won ribbons each time. For her high school graduation I told her to pick anywhere in the world she wanted to go. She chose Italy because at the time she was learning about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. Off we went on the adventure of a lifetime…and it was her first time on an airplane.
I doubt that her date for prom (whom I will refer to as Mr Sunshine) was as excited to see me as she was. Savannah’s parents and myself followed Savannah and her date to the high school for the dance. He got out of his truck and started to walk towards the school entrance WITHOUT opening Savannah’s door and escorting her into the school.
Since I’m old and believe in manners and courtesy, I made Savannah and her parents stop just short of the school doors and wait. Wait for what? Her date walked into the high school without once glancing back to see where she was. I don’t think so bucko!
We stood there for maybe 2 minutes and he finally came outside to see where we all were. He walked towards us and I told him that he should have escorted her into the school and held the door for her. By this time, other prom attendees and their families were gathering around. I told Mr Sunshine to hold the door for our group and while he was standing there, he can hold the door for all the other folks that were standing there also.
I’m sure Savannah wanted to crawl in a hole but I know that her folks were on my side. I was wondering what pack of wolves raised him with out manners.
With that said, I may be getting old but there’s always a lesson to teach younger people. I’m glad I have the respect, manners, courtesy and common sense that the kids today don’t have. That’s ok…I’ll share mine with them just like I did with Mr Sunshine.
Back to Basics 