Greats and Grands

How many Grands are in a Great? I puzzled over this for some time. There is the process, you have children, then you have grands, and then there are the greats. And once in awhile, if you living long enough, there are Great Great Grandchildren.

Right now we are in the ‘Greats Time’. It is a great time to be alive. Math has never held so much interest for me. One times one = four times two = 12. Or as our Physics major might say ExE = 4CX2Sp = 12 GC. From there the math becomes over my head. 3GCX 2Sp = 5GGC.

When our Georgia grandchildren began multiplying, we were too far away to see them often. Their pictures hang on our wall. Distance and time create a barrier to a relationship with them. Then came the Wisconsin Great. Through the miracle of technology, we have received 140 pictures plus in a week. And then we watched a video of our great grandson Samuel breathing, crying and moving.

As his grandfather wrote while visiting Samuel, “While we talked Samuel would open his eyes, look around, make faces, lift his head up a little and stretch. When I do that its no big deal, but Samuel made it really interesting.” Grandfather Paul also wrote in detail the procedure to see Samuel in the NNICU….washing up to their elbows with special soap and spraying on alcohol on their hands and arms.

Yes, we are blessed five times and are so thankful for the arrival of our fifth GGC. Will he know how his G Grandparents ooohed and aaahed over every picture and every move he made when he was only a week old? Will Samuel feel the exultation and joy his father feels when he holds him when Samuel becomes a father?

According the dictionary.com, grand is defined as impressive, magnificent or splendid. Right! I would apply those terms to our grandchildren. What about great? Unusual, remarkable or favored. So a great grandchild becomes Unusual, Remarkable, Favored-Impressive, Magnificen and Spendid Child! I for one am glad that the English language has shortened the designation. For if you try to use all these accolades, you would be time-hampered in the job all great grandparents have — bragging time.

Then comes the responsibility which is tremendous for our children – health, emotional and spiritual growth are our responsibilities for them. Then the grandchildren come along, and our role is to teach our children to avoid the errors and snares that entrapped us in raising them. When we become a great-grandparent we are not sitting on the shelf grand-parentally speaking. We now have the most important job of all. Prayer. In our time of life, as we draw closer to God, we recognize the importance of prayer for our great grandchildren, our grandchildren and our children.

And to Justin, Cody, Destiny, Tyler and Samuel, we say, “We love you all, and we pray for you!”

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