Right before school started again, Melissa, the girls, and I headed out to Morristown for a visit with GG and Pa. Or, GGma and GGpa, as everyone else calls them. But Elliott likes to do her own thing and somehow came up with GG and Pa. And it stuck.
The babies got to spend some time hanging out and drooling on the pool table, GG and Pa got to squeeze some great-grandkids, and we ate some delicious food GG prepared. It was too hot to go outside, so we just sat around a visited while the girls played (or watched TV).
It was nice to sit in the house that I remember running around as a child with my own kids doing the same thing (okay, Harper wasn’t really running around, but you get the idea…). The house where I spent many nights talking under the covers with my sister, Melissa, and cousin, Amy. Where eating peaches meant you were going to giggle for the next three hours for no reason. Where we played disc golf in the yard and hunted Easter eggs (actually Leggs panty hose eggs) that were filled with quarters.
I am so thankful that I still have both sets of my grandparents alive and well. They still look the same as when I was little. They still do the same things and live in the same houses. We still spend holidays with them and still get birthday cards every year. I have never known a life without all of them.
The only thing that has changed in the past few years is that GG and Pa now have a cell phone and they like to use it. And sometimes they’ll stop by when they’re “heading to town.” And I love that.
But what gets me down every once in a while is that I know there will be a time when they won’t be around anymore. And I understand they’ll be in a better place and everyone dies, but it’s still a little (or a lot) hard to swallow. I don’t want to ever have to say goodbye. I know that’s selfish, but it’s the truth.
I love that when I tell Ellie we’re going to see GG and Pa, the first thing she says is “Pa’s going to tickle me!” And one day it will break my heart when I can’t go see them.
So today, I’m thankful for my grandparents. So thankful.
This is so precious. God is so giving. I bet it’s even more special to them. They are so cute!