Looking back in time

Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought
by Mary May Larmoyeux


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Have you ever felt like you went back in time as you watched your grandkids? That happened to me last week when I was with our three-year-old grandson and his big sister.

Our little grandson was having lots of fun with his "bow and arrow"—that is, shooting a rubber band from a plastic coat hanger. As I watched him I remembered his daddy being a cowboy in our backyard long ago; his gun was a stick.

Then, as our grandson took a small shovel and began to dig a hole in his backyard, big sis gathered the patio chairs together and turned them upside down. She was making a fort. I remembered the forts I made as a child under overgrown bushes, and the tree house that Pops' and my sons built long ago.

I'm reminded of something that Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson wrote in their book Let's Make a Memory: "We have this moment to hold in our hand, and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand. Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today!"

How do you savor those special moments with your grandchildren? As you watch your legacy, do they ever remind you of your children?

Have a great week!
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux
www.marymaywrites.com


Article © 2011 Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

Photo © Melissa Patton / Dreamstime.com

Celebrating the simple things

Tuesday’s Grand Connection Thought
by Mary May Larmoyeux

One of my favorite books is Let’s Make a Memory by Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson. I love what Gloria says, "Special moments don’t just happen; they have to be planned on purpose! In this hectic world when the pace at which we all live is so frantic, we as families must make a covenant with each other to make time for simple things. … We have no guarantees of tomorrows, but we do have this moment."

As a grandmother, I’m so aware that there are no guarantees of tomorrow, and I'm realizing how quickly the grandkids will grow up. I hope that you and I will both heed Gloria’s advice and take time for the simple things with our grands: walking in the rain, picking flowers, looking into the clouds together—marveling at the great God who created everything.

Speaking of making moments count, I'd like to share some of your wonderful memory-making ideas over the past months. Elaine once commented that she wrote a prayer for each grandchild and sent the prayers to the adult children to pray for each particular child. She also said that on one of her granddaughter’s birthdays, she and husband made a list of "10 Reasons we appreciate Kelli." Elaine added, "She was thrilled. We put it on poster board and then laminated it."

Sharon B. mentioned an age-old favorite memory-maker that I had forgotten about—catching lightning bugs. And Sharon T. reminded us of how much fun it is to take a grandchild to a local parade.

Karen has sweet memories of identifying shapes in the clouds with her grands. She said, "I enjoyed listening to my grandson, Ethan, talk about the shapes he could see in the clouds. We even found Spiderman—can you believe it!"

"With siblings and cousins," Rita said, "we’d take turns, one at a time, climb inside a big rubber tire, roll down cousin’s ten foot high terrace across the entire side yard and crash into the pasture fence, or a tree, get out all wobbly legs and go for more."

When you and I make the effort to capture everyday moments with our grandkids, it's like we're tying our hearts together with a great, big invisible red bow over our priceless gift to one another, unconditional love.

Let's make a memory ... today,
Mary
www.marymaywrites.com

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© 2009 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © 2008 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.