Have You Hugged Your Grandma Today?

I am blessed.

I know that I am super duper blessed.

Not many people can say that their grandparents, some great grandparents, or even great-great grandparents are alive.

I have had the privilege of meeting all my grandparents. Some great grandparents. And my children had the privilege of meeting their great-great grandma.

But, as time passes, and I grow more and more busy with my little ones, I realize that I am not making enough time for the people that are part of the reason I am here! They are the people that helped mold our parents into the people they are now, in one way or another. Which in turn, has molded us into the kind of parents we are now, to their great grandchildren.

I do try. I call my grandma when I can. We go and see Tim's grandma since she is in town. I check in on my Dad's parents and send them pictures of the kids. But, I could do more. And what about the grandparents that don't get phone calls, or visits, or pictures? Today I got a taste of what they must feel like. Let me explain.

Today the kids and I took a little field trip to go see their great grandma (Tim's paternal grandmother) in her new 'digs'. She recently had a fall and is now staying in an assisted living facility. I have never entered into one. Let alone the kids. We did all go and visit a friend in hospice awhile back and this brought back memories of that time. I remember a nurse at the hospice mentioning then that children are hardly ever seen there, so when children do come, the patients hunger to see them, hear them, talk to them.

I had 'the talk' with the kids in the minivan. "Keep your voices down." "Don't run." "Don't misbehave." ETC, ETC. I explained that many people might be trying to rest, so we needed to be extra quiet. As we entered the facility you start to see lots of faces. Faces that have many stories wrinkled into their skin. Faces that seemed lost in time. It really made me aware of how each one of them has a history. A story to tell, but maybe no one to listen. I made an effort to smile at each one. At one point, when we got lost in the maze of hallways, there were 2 elderly ladies that beamed when they saw the kids walking by. I made us all go back and walked into their room. We were welcomed like family and the women gushed about how cute the boys were and how pretty Isabella looked in her dress. They did not seem at all surprised that I was a mother of 6. They got me. One of them said to me, "You have 4 boys and 2 girls. They are a gift. They are a blessing. Never forget that." I made a mental note of where their room was so we could come back and visit again. (Maybe next time with a bigger and frillier dress on Isabella, since they seemed to love that the most. She was wearing a tutu style dress today and they kept going on and on about how she looked like a doll.)

I realized as I walked down those long and sad halls with the kids, that my children were a hot commodity. Every face stared blankly ahead, until one of the children's face came into view. Then they would smile and their demeanor would change. Most people seemed completely surprised to see us there. It made us feel like celebrities! But, the absolute best was seeing Great Grandma. She lit up when the boys talked to her about getting an elevator put into her house. And she let us know that this visit had been her best yet. I loved that she has not lost a single ounce of spunk and talked to us about how she couldn't wait to get up and walk. How we love her! We talked about her time in boot camp and her visit to New York as a young girl. And we promised to return and play cards with her and let her win, since Grandad beat her the night before.

We each left feeling a sense of obligation and also a sense of love for each face we passed on our way out. We agreed that we would come back at least once a week and visit Great Grandma, the 2 ladies down the hall, and any face that would be willing to allow a mama and her 6 arrows in their room. We realized that we didn't need a reason to visit them. That they weren't wondering what we were doing there. They just seemed so happy to be visited. I pray that Jesus uses us in a big way there.

So, can I make a suggestion? Look up your local nursing home. Take your little ones in. Share their smiling faces with someone there. I can guarantee that it could be the one smiling face they have seen all day..all week...maybe all month. Our children are a gift, like the one lady down the hall said. Now, I am going to start sharing my gifts with others.

Oh, and if you are wondering how the kids handled seeing everyone... They are so sweet that I don't think they saw the sadness like I did. They were just happy to make new friends and have someone listen to their ideas and of course who doesn't like to hear they are handsome over and over again?!


Here are the kids just over a week ago with Great Grandma. We had gone over to her house and had pizza there. She had a nasty fall a few days later, so is now staying in the nursing home.