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We are not the sentimental type. Even when it comes to the delicate question of ‘How cute is my grandkid?’—we stay grounded in reality. Most newborns look like red, squishy raisins. But our granddaughter? She was a stunner from day one. Her skin was clear and pink. Her huge eyes were noticeable from halfway across the room. Sure, we were biased, but she was something special.
She grew into a pretty toddler with a tiny lisp and a big attitude. I have two favorite memories of her during her early years. Oddly, both involve car rides. First, there was the time she was buckled in her carseat as I was driving. We were stopped at a light, and when the light turned green, just as I pulled into the intersection, a driver to our right barreled through his red light, causing me to slam on the brakes. We avoided a crash by inches, but our hearts were racing. As I caught my breath, I heard her twist in her car seat and yell out the window, “You need to learn to dwive, a_ _hole!” I nearly drove off the road laughing. And yes, I had a word with her dad about choosing his words more carefully.
On another car trip, I had picked her up to spend the day with us. As we were driving to my house, she asked about her favorite breakfast, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. I explained that we weren’t having waffles that morning because I didn’t have any strawberries.
Her response: “Gamma, has you woss your mind? You know I need stwawberries!” We stopped at the store on the way to the house.
This year, we visited our little princess—now all grown up—in her first apartment. Let me just say, kids today don’t start out at the level we did. Her apartment was equivalent to our third house! It was such a delight to spend time with her, see what interests her now, and get to know her on a more adult level.
Some things haven’t changed. She still loves animals. She still loves baking. She’s much quieter now, and I see little vestige of that early feistiness. She seems more settled and content. (We’ll attribute a lot of that to the young man in her life.)
The best thing is that she and her boyfriend enthusiastically agreed to go antiquing with the old folks. Granddaughter came out of the escapade with a full set of antique mixing bowls, and grandma came home with more antique ruby glass for her collection. Oh, and grandpa and boyfriend got to have lunch at a recommended Mexican restaurant. Win-win, all the way around. Watching her grow from a lisping firecracker to a gracious young woman has been one of life’s sweetest privileges. And yes—strawberries are still non-negotiable.