As we age and our children leave home to build lives of their own, we tend to become more aware of the little things that we’ve always taken for granted.
Mind you, we never took these things for granted on purpose, but our lives were so busy with working and raising children that we never slowed down enough to even notice them.
Both my children are now married and have children of their own; which makes me one happy Nana.
Unfortunately, my two oldest grandchildren — Payton, age 8, and Aaron, age 6 — are 3,000 miles away. I don’t get to spend time with them as I would like to, although my youngest grandchild, 2-year old Wade, only lives 15 minutes from me. We all work full-time jobs, but I still try to make time to visit several times a month.
When visiting, I am almost always greeted with a huge “Glad you’re here Nana” smile.
As I enter the house, Wade is there to greet me and immediately grasps my finger with a firm hold as he tries to pull me into his room to play with him. He gets upset when I stop to hello to my daughter and put my belongings down, as he is anxious to have his Nana as a play date.
Cutting my hello very short, I allow this impatient little fellow to once again grab my finger and lead me to his toddler cave — all the while doing the most precious hop-skip dance as he happily pulls me along the way.
The smile on his face, mixed with the hop in his step, are truly priceless as it makes my heart smile with gratitude.
We proceed to play until it is either time to eat or time for me to leave; but not time for Wade to let me go.
I gather my belongings and head for the door. There in front of the door is Wade who is one step ahead of me. This little fellow is trying to block the door in order not to allow me to leave. I want to laugh and cry at the same time as he is serious about his Nana’s visit.
I give him several hugs and kisses before finally prying myself to the car.
On my drive home, I smile as I think about his innocence and unconditional love; it truly melts my heart.
With all that is currently going on in this world, are we taking time to do what puts the hop-skip in our lives?
If not, find out what it is and take the time to enjoy.
Betty Gallo McIntyre is a contributing writer for the Richmond Observer.
