When Middle Granddaughter was a baby, her parents moved away for a short period of time. When they decided to transfer back closer to home, my husband and I went to help. By ‘help’, I mean we took Little Missy to the beach to keep her out of the way of packing and of generally being underfoot.
We hadn’t seen our son and his family for a couple of months, so I was ready to get my hands on the grandbaby, who was about one-and-a-half years old.
As we stopped the car on the driveway, I could see movement inside the house. They knew we were here. Little Missy burst through the door, running as fast as her short, chubby legs would propel her. I jumped out of the car and, with outstretched arms, ran to meet my baby. I hadn’t seen her for so long. I could hardly stand it.
Meanwhile, my husband was ambling up the driveway, having paused to stretch his back after the long drive.
Baby was running as fast as she could possibly go and shrieking her delight at our arrival. I feared she might fall before I could reach her and grab her up in a tight hug and smother her with kisses. We were closing the gap between us but, just as I bent down to engulf her, she raced right on past me as if I were not there, into the waiting arms of …Grandpa!
Grandpa had always been the granddaughters’ favorite, as it is with most little girls. And no wonder: he never said ‘no’. They knew a good thing when they saw it!
I cannot say that I wasn’t a little miffed by the episode but, looking back, I’m glad he doted on the grandchildren the way he did. He had so little time with them. The older ones have great memories but have lived half their lives without him. The younger ones never knew him.
Finally, after I got my share of hugs, we went inside to make our plans and were soon on our way to the beach. We would stay a couple of days, out of the way.
Little Missy had a blast at the beach, finding broken seashells and wanting to keep them all, making sandcastles and watching them dissolve as the tide came in, shrieking in terror as a piece of seaweed wrapped itself around her little leg. Have you ever seen a one-and-a-half-year-old walk on water? They can do it, given the motivation!
We made some great memories on that trip but there is one that will stay with me no matter how old or senile I get.
We had to walk a short distance along the street to reach the beach access. Grandpa and I were laden with all the necessities of taking a child to the beach for the day, but Baby had only herself to take care of. And she was in her element. She had escaped the rules of her parents’ house and had Grandma and Grandpa all to herself. She was feeling it: confidence. Maybe a little cockiness, too. She certainly knew she was cute as a bug!
She was a step or two in front of me as we strolled along the sidewalk. She was ready for the beach with her little swimsuit and her little water shoes, and her hair up in her spiral pigtails. Her cap was cocked slightly over one eye. She had her sunglasses on, and she looked good. She was strutting her stuff like a model on the runway. She had her hand on her hip and she was just prancing along like she owned the world! And she was stopping traffic! Literally.
One huge, old convertible, with its top down, crept slowly alongside. It was as big as a boat! Two middle-aged ladies were watching her and laughing. They were enjoying her antics.
“Honey,” the passenger addressed me in her sweetest southern drawl, “your baby is absolutely adorable!”
“Thank you,” I smiled. Yes, she is, I thought.
“She is just precious,” the driver added.
“And she knows it!” I added with a smile.
The two laughed in agreement as they gave sassy Little Missy one last look and sped away down the street, waving their goodbyes. The baby, in her royal aloofness, had not even deigned to give the ladies a second glance. They were probably grandmothers too, I reasoned. They probably understood.
Little Missy has grown up since those sunny, fun-filled days. She is still confident and sassy and, sometimes, cocky. And while she is now an adult, she knows, as all my grandchildren do, that she will always be Grandma’s Baby.
If you would like to share a memory about one of your children or grandchildren, I would love to hear it. And enjoy those babies while you can!