Twinkle

(By the way, that is Tyler in the picture above. He loved that little Casey Jones)

The Heart always has room for beautiful memories......

In only a few weeks, the kids will be out of school for the summer.  They will have completed a grade and should be prepared to move on to the next.  I can remember graduating from the eighth grade and being so full of excitement because my friends and I were on that wonderful adventure of entering High School...so exciting!  Those were some of the greatest years.

It is so hard for me to believe that our first grandson, Tyler, will be leaving Jr. High and starting a new adventure of his own.  He will be moving up to the High School campus and with that comes all the things that I am not ready for him to experience.  You know, things like Girlfriends and Parties, and Sports that will cause me to worry about him getting hurt, and Dances, and, and, and!
He just isn't suppose to be there yet.

Oh my, I think I feel a tear about to run down my face....I remember when he started Kindergarten.
The previous years before that, it was just He and I at home during the day..Trista was still in school, and Ty had already started his coaching career.  But...I knew that the day would come when he would have to go to school and his long journey of learning would begin. 

By the time he was old enough to start, Trista had graduated and was teaching on the middle school campus.  There was this one day a couple of months after school had started, that I was at home and the phone rang.  It was the school, and they were letting me know that Tyler was not feeling well, and could I come pick him up.  Of course, this delighted me!  I didn't want him to be sick, but oh how I was going to love bringing him home and taking care of him. 

I get to the school and the secretary tells me that he was in the nurse's office and was laying down.
(At that time the school did not have a full time nurse.  The office help and secretary had to be the nurse a lot of days)  I walk out of the office and go into the next room and to my surprise, there was Tyler...He did not see me, and he was having the time of his life.  He was turning flips on the bed, and was singing songs.  I thought to myself, .......Hmmmmmm.....You are not sick.  I called his name and when he saw me standing there, he immediately grabbed his stomach and said, "Sugar, my stomach hurts.  I'm sick."    I could hardly maintain myself.  I wanted so bad to burst out in laughter, but I knew that he really was sick (HOME SICK) and sometimes that hurts really bad...

We gathered his things and I brought him home.  I'm sure he did what ever he wanted to do for the rest of that afternoon.  One thing for sure was that he was a happy little camper.  No more stomach pains, and no longer was he sick.  He was happy and we made a very special memory that day...

Now, here he is, fourteen and about to enter some of the best years of his life.  It is hard to believe!

He is a great guy, and he loves life.  He excels in his school work and is very active in sports.  Tyler is also full of comedy.  He keeps us all laughing at all the little things he does.  Never meets a stranger and is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.  Tyler has good Christian standards set in his life and he openly shares them with his friends.  Now listen to me....sounds like I'm busy bragging, doesn't it?

I am proud of him....But, after all, A Grandmother (Shug) is one of the most important teachers a child can ever have. 

 I read this one time and I believe it to be true.  "The blossom cannot tell what becomes of it's fragrance as it drifts away, just as a grandmother can not tell what becomes of her influence as she continues through life"  I hope that I have been a shining example not only to Tyler, but to my daughters, my other grandchildren, my husband and all the other people that I have crossed paths with.  If not a shining example, then perhaps a little twinkle that has touched their lives in some way.

I guess I have to accept that they grow up and the cycle of life continues on.  My heart longs for him to still be that five year old little boy that was turning flips and singing songs that day when I picked him up.  However, I know that as he grows and matures, the songs of his life will be wonderful and that he and I will always have memories that last forever.

Shug......

Hug your grandchildren today...Give them a part of you that they will always cherish.