and on into Minneapolis

 

Packing into the soccer mom’s transport is always a challenge.

could you give me some room?

Ha ha, I have my own seat.

Dad, we need gas!

Bad daughter, bad daughter:

for my birthday to the Mall…of America!

I wanted to spend some time with the girls and this seemed a fun way to do it.
Travel involved.

OK, calm down.


Peace seems to be the ‘sign’ of the times.

One reason to go is to see the Microsoft store across from the Apple store:

My son in law can not decide which to enter.


for William and Aaron:


OK, more mall excitement tomorrow.

The start of a recap of my trip.

Over the next few days I will be sharing some photo memories of my trip to Wisconsin.

The trip up started out sloppy and went down hill from there.

On the evening before I was scheduled to leave, I get a text telling me that my flight was cancelled. Sarah got quickly on the phone and arranged for another flight through Dallas. OK, that would have to do.

All packed, checked in and passing TSA’s check point, on board I am. Only to be greeted over the intercom by the captain telling us that there will be a delay due to navigation instrument failure. Hummmmm?  They decided to completely shut down the plane and then start back up performing a complete reboot of the computers and instruments. Onto Dallas about 30 minutes behind.

Boarded, bumped into people stowing their carry-on and finally settled into seat and had buckle snapped.

‘Ah, this is your pilot. We are having some computer issues here. Seems our navigation computer isn’t working properly. Should be about 15 to 20 minute delay.’

This is becoming a pattern!……15 minutes later:

‘Ah, this is the captain, we have had to ground this airplane but we have another waiting for you at gate…….”

A people mover ride around the D/FW airport and an hour and a half later, we get settled into place and ready to role out onto the tarmac and into holding position awaiting take-off.  About 2 hours in all, but into the sky and into the loving arms of my daughter I go.

There are many things I could say here, but just know that hugging my daughter was a happy moment(s), followed by hugs of Caydence.

I was rather tired and ready for bed rather quickly.

This is where I woke up. Note their odd white lawn….hummmm.

this is daughter and one of her animals:

close up of the animal:

the back yard also has that peculiar white lawn:

More to come soon. Have lots of fun stuff to share.

I will leave you today with Aurora prior to wake-up.

When she gets older, she will probably kill me for taking this.

By the way daughter, coffee in your kitchen is just wonderful!

Before

 

there was Indiana Jones; before there was Brown. Before there was Holy Blood Holy Grail……there was the Ladies Home Journal. With cover by N. C. Wyeth. This is from 1924.

To my Granddaughters; do not for one second think you can not. Do not never dare not to dream. You are just as valid as anyone. Make your way through life. Climb your mountains, sail your seas. Whether they are high or deep or low and shallow isn’t important. Be strong, be yourself. Dolls are fine if that’s your choice, but not less valid than ancient Mayan secrets. Do not be afraid to wear a dress but be comfortable in dirty jeans. Look beautiful on your ‘red carpets’; be at peace in your own skin.  Be    Do    

 

 

 

 

 

Some things to help you along the way!

Hello to my grandchildren and Merry Christmas.
One of you of just around the corner, one a few miles away and several of you a long way away from me in the frozen north. I love each of you and I have faith in God that each of you are of good health and are protected.
It is almost Christmas morning and I truly hope each of you enjoy your celebration of the day. Some of you are still young and have no realization other than wow, I'm getting stuff. Some of you older ones may be developing an appreciation of family along with wow, I'm getting stuff. One of you is excited by the box and paper.
I am not a man of wealth. I have no treasure to bestow upon you other than a small token of what has become a modern interpretation of the holiday season. I will confess to you that yes; I have attempted to present to each, something purchased. However, I want to say to each of you that that, is merely a display of a holiday that comes at the end of the year. I also want to pass along a little appreciation of and a personal belief in the celebration of the birth of Christ. Christmas.
I will leave it to your parents and your own maturity and growth in life to become acquainted with and develop a 'religious' identity. That children, is for your mom and dad to nurture in your youth and for you to discover as you reach an age of understanding and acceptance. It is important for your grandfather to express to you that I am a Christian. Beyond that, it is truly between you and God.
That said, I wish to give you each the gift of what I hope for and wish to share with you on this special observance. No, the baby Jesus wasn't really born on December 25th. No one really knows. It is a day to stop and realize just that he was born. We have gone through a lot of manifestations to this point; mostly about the giving is pretty universal. So, I wish to give each of you something.
The first thing I wish to give each of you is my Love. Children are a wonderful thing. But you my grandchildren are a most precious gift. I love each of you. No demands to be anyone other than who you are.
I would like to give you curiosity. No matter in which direction you are traveling in your life; grab it, take a hold of it. See what it's about. Consume life, do not be consumed by it.
I give you the desire to have a proper education. Demand reading, writing and arithmetic no matter what level of education you obtain or desire. You have to want and work for it. Schooling, your education, is important. Do not squander it or assume it's a right you have. You have to gather it, you have to gather everything you can, then peruse what is going to benefit you. I submit that you work hard on reading, writing and arithmetic. If your mind is grounded in these, all other things of interest should come easy. No, not very fun, but trust your grandfather. It is important.
I would like to give you compassion. That is a reflection of what I believe this day is a celebration of. At least a long time ago it was. It's not about a race car, nor a doll house. It is about how you feel about your brother, your sister, your friends and family. These feelings will change over time, wax and wane with distance; just never take any living thing for granted. We, both you and I and everyone are here to help each other. Strive to do so without boasting or becoming demanding.
I want each of you to have humble self worth. You are important. Never let anyone take from you your self esteem. As you get older and understand these words and there meaning, remember that your grandfather wanted you to keep your importance utmost in your mind as you grow and develop. Do not give yourself away. You will understand this with age. Just never think that you are not important. You are important and special.
I give you a little bit of humor. Life can be hard and I personally believe that you will face horrible things I could never anticipate. Remember to stop for a second and know its OK to laugh WITH. Just never laugh AT. Your world can be funny and that's a good thing to observe and embrace.
I give you strength. Every day, every step of the way, you're going to need strength. Some days you're going to cry and feel like letting go and not face tomorrow. You have to find a way to get up, dust yourself off and continue. No matter what you think in that moment, the sun will rise tomorrow, you can and must continue.
It's OK to cry. I do!
It's OK to worry. Just do so in small amounts.
Try not to hate, once you get to my age; you'll realize that it was a waste of time.
Take care of your body and your health. I did not; learn from my mistake. Be smart, your body is a temple, respect it.
I give you goals. Set them. They don't have to be big or long term. Just set goals and get use to obtaining them. You will adjust them with maturity.
Take the time to look around you every day. Learn to discover details around you. It's even OK to write them down. The color of a flower in your yard or along the road will slip your memory as you age. If you write down what's important to you, you will be able to clearly look back in your old age. It will be important. This looking will be different for each of you. That's OK.
Share things and don't get upset. Give is an important word. Being honest and truthful is very important and will make your way through life easier. Tolerance of others is a good thing.
Well, I have blathered enough and I could go on; but I will not go on much more. I just want you to know that Christmas isn't a holiday season. It's a cerebration of a birth. I challenge each of you to discover the birth of who and why that birth was important. When you discover that true meaning of Christmas, and I hope and pray you will; know that the gift waiting for you there is worth more than anything I could ever give. I just hope and pray that these things will help you along your journey.

The value of just one more day

 

{an e-mail sent to my support group this day}

Hello Everyone,

What a wonderful time I had at our monthly meeting the other night. Thank you all for the warm hugs and hardy handshakes. The smiles and questions of concern.

I have a story to relate:

This morning my oldest granddaughter came running into the house tears flowing and words struggling to be released from her mouth. Her usual smile and happy nature had been offset by something terrible.

Of course, the first thing I did was hold open wide my arms and bend down to hold her as safely and as warmly as I could deliver. Her beautiful red curls were all in dishevel madness' and her normally radiant face was ashen of some miserable, unbearable condition no one could ever, ever make better.

'Honey; what in the world is wrong?' is all I could manage to offer after the holding and gentle swaying back and forth of her little frame was at an end. As I held her away and attempted eye contact, 'It will be OK; I promise you.' was given as an enticement for information on what was the cause.

Stuttering from an over abundance of emotion and blocked by a fit of coughs , 'I.... Grandpa... I.. love you so.....much', came out of her mouth but was not to abate her tears.

After another application of the hugs and reinforcements that only a grandpa can provide to a tender granddaughter, I finally got her to calm down, breathe and tell me what the cause of the torment that had come into her life was.

Mustering courage and strength from way deep inside, she began 'It was so important to me; it was the most important thing you had ever given me. Grand pa, the book of stories you gave me, the wonderful tales of princesses and baby deer and little wooden boys ate by the whale; that one' I could see the tears forming and the breathing becoming lost to the sorrow in her mind; ' I lost....I lost it....I'm so sorry, it must have cost a million dollars Grand pa; I lost the book' followed by an open spigot of tears and sobs.

Relief finally in my mind, it was a lost book and nothing of what could have been which had been bombarding my mind. I fought the urge to laugh at the release of my own emotions of the what if variety, but caught myself to not offer a disparaging adults view of what constituted the end of the world to such a beautiful child. I applied one more hug and finally managed to get my old bone into such a position that I could take a seat on the floor and meet her gaze on an equal plane.

'Oh sweet heart, trust me, it will be OK. We can always get another one for you.'

'But grand pa, mom has told me it was worth a be jillion dollars and I was to never let harm come to it. She's going to kill me.'

Then she asked a question which gave me pause and forced me to give an honest accounting. Fighting back tears and rapid breaths, 'Have you had something you owned and thought it couldn't be replaced if you lost it?'

Holding her back from me at arms length and giving myself a few seconds of time I offered her the most honest answer I could; 'Yes, yes I have and I know exactly how you feel.' To which she gave me a look of anticipation and an oblivious desire for me to continue and tell her what it was.

'Sweetheart, you know how grand pa is sick right? and how I always have to have the Doctors do test on him?'

'Yes'

'Well, just this morning I got the results of my latest test.'

'How can that be the most important thing in the world to you grand pa? You have test all the time'

'I know I do baby, but just this morning, the doctors called and told me the results of my latest test. The cancer I have, you know, what makes grand pa sick sometimes?, the cancer, well, there is no sign of it anymore.'

I could tell by the squinted eye brows and look of questions not yet formed fully, she asked 'why is that worth a be jillion dollars?'

I smiled and held her tight and now found that I had to force back my tears and my loss of breath.

'Because my dear; it means that I get to spend more days with you, more time to watch you grow and I get the joy and happiness of just being with you.'

This time, we both held each other and then laughed with each other as only grand pa's and granddaughters can. Somehow, the lost book was forgotten and the death penalty sure to be imposed by mom had been pardoned.

No, this didn't occur anywhere other than in my mind. Well, except the call I did receive this morning and I now wish to share. I had the Pet Scan and guess what? My lungs, my throat, my whole body is clear. Oh thank God, once again; at least for right now, for a little bit of time, I am cancer free. I have yet a few more days to watch my grand children grow. I hope you pardon my little made up want and desire to be with my granddaughter. It was an honest desire of my mind expressed to you as the best way to convey my happiness and for me to make something so insignificant given the horrors in the world today, a matter of enjoyment for you to ponder.

Never take one moment for granted and never ever underestimate the value of a be jillion dollars to a little curly haired girl who now owns my heart.

I hope my good news finds you all well, whole and with good news as well. I am blessed and never think for one second, I don't know it.

Be strong my friends, as Cancer truly Sucks....

finally, one for the girls

one of the really cool things about being a grandfather to boys is, you have a lot of stuff which they can relate to after you are long gone. my two grandsons’  have a lot to remember me when that time comes.

as you all know by now i have a love of comics and disney. well, today, i finally got a legacy for my grand-daughters which encompass both of those hobbies. after a year of waiting and searching by charlie, i finally got disney comics the classic collection.

for the first and only time that i am aware of; all the rare disney comic books are in one collection.

the collection:

walt disney’s snow white and the seven dwarfs, 1944

walt disney’s bambi, 1942

walt disney’s dumbo, 1941

walt disney’s alice in wonderland, 1951

walt disney’s peter pan, 1953

short of collecting all of the originals, which would be fairly hard and a little expensive; this volume (published once in 2006 and limited) by disney enterprises, inc.; is a wonderful addition to my collection and it will go to my girls. i hope they will someday come to know how important this is to go from me to them. i am excited and i trust it will be a warm and worthy legacy from me.

 

take care girls and i hope you will enjoy this special book. it was hard for me to get. i love each of you in a way that i hope you will someday know.

 

gosh, grand-daughters are hard!