The Things They Say

“Grandma, what thing about me do you love the most?”

It took me by surprise this question. Was she short on compliments in her young life? Ten  years old and wondering about herself like this. What could it mean? I gave it twenty seconds of careful thought.

“I love your sweet voice,” I said. After all she’d just finished reading a bit of Lemony Snickett from The Series of Unfortunate Events to me. Of  course this back and forth prompted me to ask what she liked the most about me.

“You’re gentle and kind,” she said.

Thank you, Lillie. Grandmas need to hear things like that. And they need things like this to tuck into their memory banks of “kid incidents.”

Another granddaughter, Sierra, put a question to her mother causing her mother to think of me and what I might have said to inspire the comment.

“Mommy, say something funny so I can say ‘For heaven’s sake’.”

I had no idea ‘for heaven’s sake’ popped out of my mouth enough for Sierra to notice. But she did. Kids are like that.

As they get a bit older they become more free wheeling with their comments and –yes – criticisms.

“I just read a whole article on the Internet and cats are lactose intolerant,” Elaina spouted.

She’d seen me give our stray, Agnes, a dish of milk ( and a glob of ice cream – vanilla). Grandma was transgressing mightily.

“But she begs for it every morning, “ I countered.

“It’s not good for her. I saw cat barf in the yard with her food in it.”

I sighed. I was killing the cat with my capitulation to her demands. “Okay, I’ll stop for a week and see if she gains any weight.”

Poor Agnes (or Angus as Lillie pronounces it), she doesn’t have any idea about grandkids and their desire for doing right by pets. She and I will have to struggle this out together. I’ll keep Elaina posted.

Our week of company, book launches, summer birthday bashes and gobbling up the goodies from the garden is over. Soon the school bells will be ringing, the big pumpkin will have to be harvested and the leaves (gasp) will start to turn. The summer memory bank is pretty full and I guess I’m ready. How about you?

The beat goes on.