The plane is a part of our granddaughter. The boys across the aisle, fairly quiet! The boys (and their parents) were going to visit grandma and grandpa and, as I watched their activity level, I hoped grandma and grandpa had a big yard and lots of energy.
She already grab our hands and old granddaughter. She would grab our hands and lead us to her bedroom, close the door firmly and place us on her bed. Then she would show us all her newest acquisitions. Many of these would have some connection to the movie "Frozen", her most recent obsession. We & # 39; d ooh and aah at all the right moments and she and I would apply the age-appropriate makeup, nail polish and skin glitter that would peel off within 15 minutes. What 's going on? "frozen" for us and then we & # 39; d move into the living room to play the game "Sorry". What fun!
My husband keeps saying that if we had had grandchildren this was fun, we would have had had first! I understand now why to have extended living in "villages", to have extended family around you to share the bad times and good times; to take some of the burden off of over-burdened parents and to some share some of the wisdom acquired over the years.
I know, I know! Sometimes this "wisdom" is less than wise and sometimes it only adds more stress to young parents trying to do everything at once. But on the whole, I think the saying & # 39; takes a village to raise a child & # 39; is right on.
That was partly because we were raising our kids. We were afraid, might just add add more stress to our lives We were probably right about the latter but I do not know now I'm grandparent, if we did not also deprive ourselves and our children of really knowing their "village".
My "village" consist of three great-uncles, great-aunts, my grandma and assorted cousins- some who lived in town and some who visited in the summer. My uncles and grandmother had traveled from Lithuania to Virginia, Minnesota when they were in They literally left behind their village and then recreated it in a small town in Northern Minnesota.
I remember holidays at Aunt Bess and Uncle Carl 's house, poker games every Saturday night at rotating homes and fishing trips in wooden rowboats that holding way too many people. I remember my grandma who got me unconditional love and died years before she should have. My most vivid memory of my grandma is visiting her on Friday afternoon and walking across newspapers laid out on her wet kitchen floor, my nose filled with the wonderful aroma of chicken soup simmering on the stove. of dinner were in preparation for Shabbos which arrived at sundown.
When grandma died, we moved into her house. Both men and women played and the mix created evenings filled with loud conversation, good food and lots of tension. More often than not, This game ended in a loud argument and threats of quitting the game of brother and I would hide under the table disappear in a quiet corner so we would not be sent to bed and miss all the excitement.
This is where I learned to swim and to know the older cousins and their families who came back to We were scattering, just like every second generation American family.
I always knew I would not settle in Virginia. I believe my parents realized this also and knew that once They sent my brother and me to college, we would never live there again.
First in Southern California, then Upstate New York and finally, Florida. Our extended families visited us and we visited them, trying to keep the link alive. But now our children are doing the same thing; we all work hard to keep the family link alive with frequent visits, phone calls and e-mail and I & # 39; m very thankful for airplanes, phones and Skype! They all help to keep our villas intact when we do not live down the street.
After we landed in New York, I rushed to baggage claim, after our suitcases After there suit, they are, scooping the suddenly shy boys into their arms for many hugs and kisses. We are on our way in a taxi to spend time with our daughter, son-in-law and almost seven-year old granddaughter. And for a few days, part of our village was together and we made new memories for our granddaughter to take into her future.
