JOURNEY OF A FIRST TIME GRANDMOTHER.  DANNY WAS MY FIRST GRANDCHILD.  I WASN’T TERRIBLY ANXIOUS TO BEGIN THIS NEW EXPERIENCE.  IT’S AMAZING HOW EASY IT WAS TO  BE PUSHED INTO A  THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION

Diary to Danny:
1980 Phone call says you are here. But hospital bound for a few weeks. Precious baby boy. How you have changed me! Your entrance into this world just shoved me right over to another generation. Grandmother! I’m not ready. I’m only forty-seven. Forty-seven? That’s a dozen years older than many women when they are pushed into grandmother-hood! Guess that’s okay. In fact you are pretty special to have come on my 27th wedding anniversary. Kind of you to give me one less date to remember!

1980 Oh, wow. We’re in Denver and you are at home! Looking you over I see that the grandmother business is much nicer than I feared. So little, so vital, so necessary to God’s plan. And to think I ever could have thought you were not needed to make me complete!

1982 Little one, you now have to scoot over to make room for a brother. It’s not so bad to make room for another. I did it; you can too. But it does bother me a bit to think that you are now a big brother. Just watch as you take on added stature. You’re already a helper, knowing just what is needed for a diaper change for you and your brother!

1983 (?) Ah, your mama is cutting off your curls—long gorgeous blond curls. (In later years you get even for that event!)

1986 The two great negotiators:
David, wanting to play with the car: Let’s pretend it is really your car, but you let me play with it.
Danny, keeping the car: Let’s pretend it is really my car and I am playing with it.

1988 Breakfast is ready. At the table. Time for food for the stomach; time for food for the soul. Bible reading makes for strong spirits; food makes for strong bodies.

1990’s I’m losing you. You are boy! Grandma’s not. I don’t even like picnics very much. You are becoming king of the hill and Grandma’s slouching around at the bottom of the hill! I’m glad you’re on the move. I think lots of bicycle riding School pictures are nice but sad replacement for hugs!

1998 Graduation. Your pictures are so handsome. True they do not replace hugs but they are sure nice to brag about. I’m glad you are staying close by for college. Dear God, help Danny through these crucial years – driving, girls, college, career, marriage. Grandmothers are to be polite to. They can be controlled by hugs and an occasional visit. But they are terribly stubborn about name changes. I must remember now. You are Daniel. I will try to remember that, Danny.

2006 Whew! You made it. Good choice on that marriage thing! Admittedly I had my doubts. A wife and two sons all in the same day. Husband and father. And you pushed me into another generation. I hardly noticed. It just brings more delight in the form of babies!

2015 Daniel, I am so proud of you on this your 35th birthday. I commit Paul’s words to you: “When I was a child I thought like a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” You are a man. You are a husband. You are a father. You are a citizen. You are a Christian. You excel in all. You are loving, brainy, and inspiring. Love you and the new family you brought to me!

2017  Another name change –  DAN