Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Learning From My Elders


Last weekend, we went to visit my grandma in her new home. It was our first time seeing her new apartment and, since we decided to make the trek on a whim, she was surprised to see us there. Happy, but surprised.

After visiting with her for awhile, rearranging a table to better meet her solitaire-playing needs, and escorting her down to the activity room to play Bingo, we said our goodbyes.

As we headed out the front door, an elderly lady touched my arm and stopped us.

"What a beautiful family!" she exclaimed, smiling at the baby in my arms and the children clinging to Daddy's hands.

"Enjoy them."

"Oh, I will..." I started to say, but she continued.

"Love them more every day. But, even more, love each other. Enjoy each other. Your children will see that. It will shape the relationships they choose."

I nodded.

"I'm not crazy," she laughed. "I hope I didn't scare you."

Quickly, I shook my head no and opened my mouth to speak, but she wasn't quite done...

"It's just... I saw you and it reminded me of me, long ago. I'm the only old bird left in my family now, but I remembered what it was like. I had four children too... Bless you." And she smiled softly as she headed back inside.

My son took my older daughter's hand and I took my husband's. We headed to the car.

Hubby and I have talked about that weekend a lot since. It was a long weekend- Columbus Day weekend- and we had three whole days together. All three were wonderful. We enjoyed each other. We laughed together. We teased each other.

And we weren't afraid to listen to a stranger... to glean some wisdom from our elder.

*Note: I only have three children. And I'm not expecting. I think she may have some vision problems. Just didn't want to start any rumors... ;)

This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday

1 comment:

FishMama said...

Personally, I think the woman was prophetic. tell T his fate is sealed. ;)