On Being a Grandma

 My dear friend Cindy nominated me through Facebook to participate in a “10-day being a grandma celebration.” According to the directions, “Every day I select an image from a day in the life of being a grandma and post it with no explanation and nominate somebody to join the celebration. 10 days, 10 posts, 10 nominations.” I am absolutely no good at that kind of a challenge. I do not follow the rules. The part about selecting pictures is no problem, and if you know me you will believe that 100%. It’s the part where you don’t give any explanation that always perplexes me. Why would I want to post a picture without the story? The story is what makes it special. Missing out on the story behind the old pictures in my possession breaks my heart. I do scrapbooks so I can tell stories. I write blogs (with lots of pictures) so I can tell stories. I must tell the stories.

That said, I do want to honor Cindy’s nomination. I created this collage picture and want to tell you a little bit about each of the nine pictures here. They each tell a part of my story of being a Grandma. 

Picture number one was taken during my first moments with my granddaughter. Those moments were precious, and watching my daughter become a mom was beyond wonderful. This picture still stirs thoughts that take my breath away. It seems fitting that picture number one represents my beginnings as a grandma. On the second day of Elle’s life, she met her aunt and uncles – our other children. That’s the second picture. It was so wonderful to see them all fall in love with her instantly. The look in their eyes tells it all. Being a Grandma is watching relationships grow. I have loved watching Emily, Joseph, and David grow into their roles as aunt and uncles and to watch Elle grow in her love for them all. Picture number three shows how Rilla the cat and Elle began their relationship. Those two are something! I feel blessed (and amused) to have a two-year-old granddaughter who needs to nuzzle the cat goodbye, even during video chats.

Picture number four is a memory-maker. Elle is in a hand-me-down outfit that I saved from when our children were little. It was an outfit all four of the kids wore, and here she is seated by a scrapbook page that depicts the four of them in that outfit. Being a Grandma is remembering the past and finding ways to tie it into the present. Picture number five is another one that is all about the relationship! My dear husband is a devoted Grandpa. I love watching him with his granddaughter, whether they are reading or talking or building or just snuggling. I am so glad to be the Grandma Liz that goes with Grandpa R.J. Speaking of Grandma Liz, here I am again in picture number six! One of my favorite things to do is to read with Elle, and the book we are reading in this picture is all about being a Grandma. It was my Christmas present from Elle. I love being a Grandma who reads with my sweet granddaughter almost every day.

Picture number seven shows Elle doing an inspired “reading” of The Monster at the End of this Book to her very own stuffed Grover. If you are familiar with this book, you can probably hear her shouting “You turned the page!” just like Grover would. Being her Grandma means I get a front row seat to watch her vocabulary and expression grow and grow. It's amazing. Picture number eight represents the joy of having Elle close-by so we can make spontaneous plans to go on a Saturday morning hike together. I love spending time with the whole Trader family, and being Elle’s grandma is also being Laura’s mom and Andrew’s mother-in-law. That is a blessing that I do not take for granted. The ninth and final picture in the collage hearkens back to the past again. How can I speak of being a grandma without celebrating the grandparents that my own parents were? They loved so big and shared so many joyful moments with us. My own joy in being Elle’s grandma has a rich heritage, and I believe with all my heart that my parents would have enjoyed watching Elle and me loving each other.

So, that’s nine pictures, but the challenge was to post ten pictures. Choosing that last one was nearly impossible. The picture I finally chose represents that being a Grandma means providing a safe space for my grandchild to feel whatever she is feeling. She does not need to be happy or pleasant or engaged to be my girl. She can be grumpy or sad or angry and she is still all mine, always. Love isn’t always pretty, and it doesn’t need to be. Grandma love is resilient. 

These pictures represent the first two years and a little more of my being a grandma. The thought of the journey ahead fills me with joy, but I don’t plan to rush ahead. In a world where many grandparents have been separated from their grandchildren for a year or more, I realize how blessed I am to have this daily, physical connection with my granddaughter. I cherish each moment, even when she is singing “Baby Shark” loudly for the 100^th time instead of napping. These are some mighty fine days, my friends.

Thanks for nominating me, Cindy! Any other Grandmas out there who want to participate in the original challenge and ignore my crazy interpretation, feel free to do so. One of the rules I’m not very good at following is "nominating others."