A Letter To My Grandmother

   


        I have tried to keep a copy of everything I have ever taken the time to write.... at least if it carried any significance to me.  I do not often review those things I have collected.  Still, in the course of checking the computer to see if there is anything I might delete to make more room, I occasionally run across something that caries some greater meaning.... and the trip to that moment when I was writing it is a journey worth making. 

      The following was composed some time ago.  Back when my life was centered around just one grandchild.  Today we count six young lives as grand babies.  Life is full.... and the grand babies occupy a place of honor at the center of my existence.  It should become obvious in the following that this is not an original concept.  This is a letter I composed to my own Grandmother years after her passing when just beginning to understand the impact she had on my life.  As being Pop is central to my life, I thought this should be included......

Granny,

     Today, while sitting in the sun of a glorious early spring afternoon, I was pondering the blessings of my life, and suddenly the need to share a few thoughts with you became overwhelming.  The awesome totality of your love filled my heart to near bursting. The need to let you know what is in my heart is still immediate, and unavoidable.  I know that communicating through a letter at this point in time might seem a little pointless…….. in my heart I know the simple truth that you, more than anyone I have ever known, have always understood and conversed regularly in the language of the soul….., so I will go ahead and write this down and trust that you will be able to somehow understand what is in my heart.

      It seems to me that it is inherent in the human soul to desire at the very core of our being to somehow “make a difference”…. We want to believe the world is a better place because we were there.  Maybe it is the question we all ask of our maker, “Did I matter?”  Well, it may be extremely presumptuous of me to assume that I might answer a question that is more accurately directed at God…… but in your case I will plead that love motivated me, and will offer the simple observation that your love is a cornerstone of something truly miraculous.  

 

    Do you marvel at the extent of what our little “circle” has become?  You always gathered us in……. in big groups at Christmas, as individuals in the middle of the night…..  you held us all in your heart.  You should be proud of the intimacy shared by those you taught to love. 

 

    It is humbling to sit in the presence of those you nurtured, and to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of their love.  Your family has grown…… your legacy reaches beyond just those who sit in our little circle to share (although to call it little anymore is a little bit of an understatement)…… our family now includes countless individuals and families that those you loved, have come to love…..  

 

    Family time (anytime any of us are together) is always so special, and it never occurs that somewhere at its center I feel your presence.  You had your hand in all our lives.  Your patience, your slow measured wisdom…… I feel you whenever I am in the presence of love.  Life has progressed, roles have changed, and today I find your children, and now your grandchildren blessed in being allowed to revisit the role you played as “Granny”. 

 

    We all play the role to the best of our ability, and I think we are all conscious of the high standards you set for the title of “grandparent”…….  So, Granny, today there is a little blue eyed girl that I love with all my heart….. I never hold her, I never am in her presence that I do not feel your love for me, magnified and shared again. 

 

    I am now “Pop” to a younger generation……..  and I am so thankful for what you shared, what you taught, and what you mean to my life.  I hope I bring to the title just a little of what you demonstrated. 

 

    I would say “God Bless”, but he obviously has….. so I will close with a simple statement …..  I love you, on the road that is my life, from Tommy to Pop, you are at the center of all that is my world.