Grandparents

More than ten years ago, when my sister was pregnant with the boy who is my parent's eldest grandchild, I recall my father gently mocking my mother and me for our excitement about the coming baby. "It's just a baby," he reminded us.

Then that baby was born and my father had cause to eat his words. When I paid my first visit to meet the new member of the family, my father was flush with joy in his grandson. And Mr. Ho-Hum had become Grandpa Euphoric. "I thought you girls were pretty special," he told me, "but this boy...." the sentence went unfinished, as normally talkative Grandpa was overwhelmed with love and pride in his tiny grandson.

Within two years, two more grandsons joined the family. And now my father is rich in grandsons, God's payment for having endured teenage daughters, I expect.

While his cousins live in California, just down the street from their grandparents, JT lives across the country. We visit often and he's gotten to be a pretty chatty phone buddy, but there is no substitute for having your grandparents at hand. Yesterday, they flew in from California to spend the next two weeks with us.

On Thursday, JT flew out of bed, excited about the afternoon's airport run. When he joined me in my classroom yesterday, he announced that "this is the longest day EVER," excited as he was to fetch Grandma and Grandpa. They are here now, ensconced in our care for the next two weeks.

Let the spoiling begin!