We call them Gram & Gramps

Tonight I took Pumpkin over to see my grandparents who I call Gram and Gramps and she will call G.G. (Great Grandma) & Grandpa. I should mention that I have the best grandparents in the world but I won't because I don't want to make anyone feel bad.

I've always had a very close relationship with this set of grandparents. Their house has always been down the street or around the corner and my second home. My mother's parents both died when I was very young and I barely knew them but my father's parents, these grandparents have been my heroes, my friends, my confidants, my playmates, my biggest fans, and so much more. They have worked very hard to keep our family close, every year hosting Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the best easter egg hunt this side of the Mississippi. In the summertimes, many lazy days were spent on the lake with Gramps trying to catch the biggest fish and despite many claims of "yuck" and "gross" accompanied by looks of terror and disgust, every one of his granddaughters learned how to put a worm on a hook.

In the fall, you could find my cousins and I jumping in the monstrous piles of leaves my grams would rake up in her front yard. Despite the fact that this meant much more work for her, she never complained and always seemed to time her leaf gathering to coincide with grandkids running about on her front lawn. It was almost as if she raked them just for us! ;)

Winter came early in Idaho and the anticipation for the first "real" snow almost killed us. We knew that on that day or soon after we would go hookey-bobbin! Gramps would hook up the snow saucers to the back of his pick-up truck and pull us up and down Dog Alley (I come from a very small town) until it was dark or we were exhausted. Each time he'd tell us that it was time to go in, he was met with cries of "One more time gramps, one more time!" We even had a little trick to keep him out longer. On what was supposed to be the last run, one of us would purposely accidentally throw toss drop a glove or mitten on the side of the road. Once we returned to the house we would inform gramps of our loss, and another run to retrieve the glove would be necessary.

Gram & Gramps rarely missed any of our ball games, theater productions, music concerts, or other important activities and in the event they did, there was always a very good reason. It was very evident how proud they were and how much they loved us. I can remember many late Saturday nights I spent at my Gram & Gramps in high school staying up to watch Hello Dolly or another volume in their movie collection. They always seemed different than my friends grandparents; they never felt old to me because they were always willing to participate in the fun that we had whether it was staying up late to play board games or patiently showing us over and over how to make a doll out of a hollyhock flower.

I cannot even begin to number the neat memories I have of them. As they progress in age, though they are both in decent health, I wonder more and more how I will manage without them. Something that has always brought overwelming sadness to me was the fear that they would not be around long enough to give my children the opportunity to know them or learn from their incredible examples. And that is what has inspired me to write this post. Because tonight that fear lessened a bit as I watched Gramps play with Pumpkin, tickle her belly to make her laugh and hang her upside down from her feet. I saw Grams, in the way she always takes care of others, make sure there were toys ready in the living room for Pumpkin to play with when we arrived. As I watched my daughter interact with the two of them, I was suddenly flooded with memories from my childhood with them when they did similar things with/for me. Depending on how long they are with us, Pumpkin may never have any recollection of these tender moments but I will never forget them.

I'm not sure they know it, because among many other things they are amazingly humble, but they have passed on quite the legacy. It is a legacy of kindess, of hard work and service, of gratitude and forgiveness and above all, unconditional love. What an example to follow!