Friday, March 13, 2009

A priceless gift from a granddaughter


Jamie e-mailed today that they had been to the open house at the school Maddie and Edie attend, and in Maddie's school papers he found a paper entitled "My Grandma." He sent me a copy. Maddie wrote about my really important job as an author and some of the books I've written, and then she wrote that I was a cool rode model and she hoped to follow in my footsteps one day. Be still, my heart. Other grandmas out there know how I felt at that moment. This picture of Maddie is about two years old--that baby, Kegan, will be two on Easter, but it's one of the best I have on my computer, and it shows Maddie at one of her many roles--caretaker of her younger cousins. She is so good with them, so loving and caring. I may be repeating myself, but Jamie told her she's the cousin all the rest will think of as an aunt because she takes care of them. She is three years older than her sister, and the rest of the cousins stair-step behind Edie. They are all special, but there is something about Maddie, something destined for a wonderful future. I told her she is my role model because of the whole wide world opening up before her--she's athletic, she does well at school, she cooks, she reads voraciously, and yet she's also into electronic games. Truly, for today's kids like her, the world is their oyster. May they stay blessed and safe. Sometimes when I see pictures of abused or missing children, I can't help thinking about how loved and protected all my grandchildren are (wow, I wandered on that thought, didn't I?).
Today was one of those days that made me so happy when I got home to stay. It was in the upper thirties and wet, wet, wet. And it wasn't a day I could simply go to work and back. At 8 a.m. I left in the dark and rain for a field of vision test--interesting experience--and then went to the office. At 10:30 I had to leave to go to Human Resources for a meeting, and then at 11:30 it was back to my office for a few minutes and then off to Central Market. Drizzling or outright raining all the time, and the temperature in my car never went above 39. Yes, I was glad to get home. Did some work, had a good nap (I haven't yet gotten over my change-of-time need to sleep a lot), set the table for tomorrow's brunch, and am settled at my desk for the evening. My project is to try to post information about small publishers on the web site. It may drive me over the edge.

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