IT’S SOOOO GOOD

You know those times that it’s just so good, you don’t care about anything else?  We have to have it, no matter the cost. Who cares when it’s that good?  Like that one glass of wine too many or the man we shouldn’t?  Some days, no matter if it’s your birthday or not, you just gotta throw caution to the wind and say…. Why not?  Tyler did.

 

GRANDMOTHER OF TWO

It’s been a little over three years since Lexi’s brother Tyler was born.  He’s 14 months younger than she.  I had no idea that I would experience the degree of love for them that I have. I’ve watched them make it through her jealousy after he was born, which didn’t last long at all, his colic – which did, the terrible two’s and now that he’s three and she’s four, they’re more like twins, even if a slight stretch of the Irish kind. 

For me, one of the best things is watching just how much they care about each other.  She said a few weeks ago, ” Tyler’s my best friend forever”.  He rushes to her rescue whenever he has the chance.  Even though he’s younger, he is showing a protective big brotherlyness.  She eats it up and lavishes him with her feminine ways.  It’s pretty common for her to show him what to do… and he does.  He was only a little over a year old when she took him on a pretend shopping spree through their house, while dutifully holding his hand as she dragged him around….and he went.  I don’t know how much he loved it, but he kept quiet. 

If he hears her cry, he rushes to her rescue and if another kid should lay a hand on her, they better watch out because it seems to raise his testosterone level to aggressive.  He likes to make things better, too. One night when they stayed overnight, she was acting like a little princess and wanted me to bring her juice, which was on the table 3 feet away,  over to her.  I was busy and wanted her to get it, which she stubbornly refused to do.  After several unfruitful back and forth volley’s of “no, you get it” and “no, you get it”, Tyler looked first at her, then at me and he got up and got it. 

This ringside seat is priceless and it gives their parents, me, their other grandparents and relatives, an endless supply of laughter, frustration, tears, joy,  discovery, surprise, anger, love, even more love and I pray, many, many more years to come.

LONGING

Have you ever wanted something so badly you could taste it?  It happens to me all the time. For example, food calls my name. Sometimes even, it yells JOYCE and doesn’t quiet down until I go and see what the heck it wants.  Too often we go because the calling is just too persistent.  The next time though, I’m going to think of my granddaughter’s disappointed little face, knowing she just wasn’t going to get that ice cream.  And maybe it will inspire me to walk away, just as she had to that day.  Even though what we want is often within our reach, we have to realize that sometimes, we just can’t have it.   

 Longing for something we can’t have is such a hard life lesson to learn.  It’s one of the first I realize, now that I’m looking at Alexa’s picture. Her face shows just how painful it is.  I’m sure I must have looked like her a few times myself.

 Hearing the Rolling Stones tell us “You can’t always get what you want”, doesn’t make it any easier.  But, as my cousin pointed out, We get what we need.”