Family Ties

I hope Brenna and Noah remember this night for a long time. We have just come from the hospital seeing Gram, who is in the hospital to get a pacemaker. When we got to the hospital I was vascillating between having the kids bring in books and nintendo ds' to keep them entertained or leaving them in the car where they belonged. But Noah, my sweet bear, got out and said, "Mom, we should focus on Gram. We shouldn't bring those in." Ok, decision made.
The kids were so well behaved and so interested in Gram that I was happy they came along. Brenna, early in the visit, sat on Gram's bed and proceeded to ask her about all of the wires coming from underneath Gram's robe. So, Gram told her about her heart and the procedure she was going to have done tomorrow. The connection between them was visible and we were all caught up in the moment of listening to Gram speak. Brenna continued to ask Gram about the polio that had struck her as a young child. And again, Gram answered and told the story of how the doctors told her she would never walk again. And contrary to that thought, her dad, Daddy Al, knew that she would indeed walk again. For the next two years he dedicated his energy to helping her walk again. She spoke of how she would sit and try to push a spoon with her leg. She spoke of Daddy Al carrying her outside in the spring breeze; she spoke of her friends, later, pulling her along behind them on roller skates, and she spoke of building her strength and how finally at the age of 13 she was dancing in roller skates. We were all so mesmerized. Noah was quiet and enjoyed the camaraderie among everybody.
What was so cute about Noah was that about halfway through the visit, the son of the women in the bed next to Gram, asked if we could help him move his mother up on her bed. Without hesitation, Noah jumped up and said, "Sure." It doesn't get any better than that.
I walked out of the room extremely proud of my children. In the car, the floating continued as I heard Brenna say, "I learned something tonight from Gram. I learned that if you have something, a problem, that if you really believe in yourself, you can do it. If you believe in yourself you can make it happen." Some things just need to be learned from grandparents. I am so decidedly grateful that my children have two wonderfully strong, and yet completely different, grandmothers who love them fiercely. I am grateful for visits that my children get with their grandfathers as well. Good luck tomorrow Gram; we will be thinking of you, blowing hugs and kisses your way.