Today was very enjoyable. I was surrounded by my two daughters and their respective toddlers and newborns. It was a relaxing day. I made breakfast, cleaned the refrigerator, visited with Rebekah’s in-laws, made lunch, finished cleaning the refrigerator, closed my eyes briefly while the moms and kids took a nap, made dinner, helped Rachel load Ryan and Sean in the car amidst two toddler meltdowns and cleaned up from dinner. Taking a break from the air conditioning, I am sitting outside enjoying the evening, in spite of the fruit flies in my wine.
I was very thankful that Dick and Beth, Elliot’s parents, came to Rockford to see baby Eden Rose. Beth had stopped by on Tuesday, but this was Dick’s first opportunity to see his new granddaughter. He ended up taking Caleb on a much needed walk for at least an hour despite the hot weather. Caleb reminds me of a collie we once had. If you were to let Laddie off his leash, he would walk away from the yard and he would keep walking never to be seen again. He tended to head toward the Cal Sag channel and only the intervention of astute neighbors kept him from becoming a runaway. If we were to open the gate to the yard, Caleb would head straight for the Rock River a few blocks away and I shudder to think what could happen if a neighbor didn’t stop him along the way. Elliot and his dad are outdoorsman. They hunt, they fish, they camp, and civilization is for the birds. This, I now believe, is a genetic predisposition. Caleb has a big yard to play in, but he yearns for the open range like his father and grandfather. I used to hate all of Elliot’s talk of moving to Montana. Now I think it might be the compassionate thing to do for the sake of his child’s dislike of being penned up in the big city of Rockford. Heck, I wouldn’t mind spending extended periods of time in Montana visiting with the kids. For now though, Rockford is far enough away for this grandma’s ability to be available to help out with emergencies.
So, I am tired in a good way. It is the tiredness that comes with a job well done. It is the tiredness that is offset by the joy of having such close relationships with my daughters and having the joy of watching the grandchildren grow. Joy grows from contentment and I think that contentment comes from resolving to bloom where you’re planted. And that I did.
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