Dear Friends,
I have been gifted with these two little words, from the mouth of a babe, that have changed my life!
The planets aligned when my granddaughter’s remarkable invitation penetrated my heart and allowed me to see with new eyes. Speaking of eyes, when she looks into mine I experience an awareness, a connection, that is pure. We don’t have any past history or unmet expectations, we just have now…and it is everything!
“Look, Grandma!” she says, as I walk into the room and see her favorite movie for the day. “Look, Grandma!” as she’s about to hop on one foot. “Look, Grandma!” she calls out from her playhouse – her collection of wooden foodstuffs all ready for cooking and serving. And I? I look with wonder at this child of my child. She invites me into her world, frees me of my narrow vision, and offers new life everywhere I look. Sometimes I can’t keep up, but I keep trying!
Life in the 70s is filled with contemplative moments for me, that clearly is one of the gifts of aging. We slow down to watch the birds, we stare at beach grasses that wave in the wind, we think about a comment made by another and let it land somewhere in our heart. I bring my contemplative self to these short conversations with my granddaughter, she speaks and I listen. I’m not in a rush – my only desire is to let her know that she has my full attention. Her enthusiasm for life at 29 months old is bursting at the seams, I watch in wonder. When was her Daddy like that? When was I like that?
I hear her voice echo in my ears as I sit at home. Familiar sights have a different perspective when I repeat, “Look, Grandma!” to myself. I see layered shingles on a nearby roof, evenly spaced but with random cloud movement behind them. The lake’s ripples shimmer in the sunlight, almost hypnotizing as I look and look again. Newly yellow goldfinch play on the feeder, celebrating the arrival of Spring, “Look Grandma!” Life is right here – don’t miss it!
With affection, Lisa