Staying Young

December 20, 2018

Some things are just better with kids. A few days ago, I wrote about my quest for Linda’s Christmas gift, which I was finally able to procure this past Saturday. It’s an actual entry room bench seat with an umbrella stand, or at least part of one. The bottom piece is missing, but the loop that holds the umbrellas in place was still attached. It needed more than a mere cleaning, so for the past three days, I’ve been applying chemical stripper and attacking it with rubber gloves and steel wool. Today it was ready for the varnish.

Our granddaughters Eliza and Gemma don’t like to sit around doing nothing more than watching TV. Their mother told me a few days ago that Eliza had been asking since November when she could start wrapping Christmas gifts. At the time, Jessie didn’t have any ready, so Lizey had to wait. When Jess was finally ready, Eliza was rarin’ to go, and had them wrapped up in no time. “Do you have any more?” she asked her mother. Jessie didn’t, but I did. Monday after dinner, I dropped off a box full of presents. Before I got home from men’s group that evening, I had a text message telling me they were all done. 

A couple years ago, Eliza’s little sister Gemma helped me refinish a grandfather clock. The other day, she asked if I had any more clocks to work on. “No clocks, but I have a bench that’s going to need some work,” I replied. So after school, Linda picked her up so she could help. She jumped right in and carefully followed my instructions to varnish with the grain of the wood, doing a capital job of it. First coat is done, Gemma stayed for dinner, and after playing Jingle Bells on the piano and reading three Christmas picture books to me, is sitting on the floor playing Peter Rabbit (a fancy version of Chutes & Ladders) with Linda. When they’re done, Gemma will jump up, ready for the next adventure. Linda, not so much. Jumping, that is. Both of us however, will leap for joy in our hearts for the privilege of building into the lives of our grandchildren. The only downside to an evening with Gemma is that my attention span isn’t what it used to be. I’ll concentrate real hard. With effort, I may be able to catch up with her before the evening’s over. Who am I kidding? Probably not.

When her parents came to pick her up, Jessie laughed her way into the back room where I was writing. She loved my redneck Christmas wreath! Linda had been quite patient with my motorcycle tire in the dining room warming up so I could mount it on my bike, but she did make a passing comment on it this morning, so while she was out grocery shopping, I decided to dress things up a bit for the holidays. I think it’s quite nice, actually, and am thankful that my wife has a good sense of humor.