The Greats

This post is the for the young at heart. E and M are lucky to have many young hearts in their life, but there are three in particular whose years have earned them a special distinction. 

Grandpa Ian gets minor elective surgery on his birthday. 

Grandparents are good, but great-grandparents are truly great. J remembers having tea parties with her great-grandmother. That woman got herself down to the level of the tiny table J had set (and presumably got herself up again) and made-believe she was sipping tea and enjoying chocolate biscuits that were clearly wooden beads and blocks. There was at least 90 years between them (J admits she hasn't done the math) and yet in that moment they were peers. 

E and M's great-grandparents must have had great parents themselves, or perhaps they come by their greatness magically.

Harry Potter, eat your heart out

These great-grandparents never forget a birthday or a holiday. They send valentines and enclose letters and sometimes even slide a little green into E's palm so he can choose something special off his wish-list. They don't do any of those annoying things that older people do to the very young, like pinch their cheeks or tell stories of the blizzards they faced when they "were your age" and had to climb hills both ways to wherever it was they were going. They have beautiful handwriting and gentle hands. They are mentors to their own grandchildren and very much loved, beyond what is written here, beyond what is heard on the phone. These faces are for you. These smiles, these moments, these memories. All yours, with love and gratitude.