The Grandchild

{Cousins and Kids}

I was thinking about the term,

"grandchild."

Children are great, but apparently the child of your child is grand.

No, offense B, B or J; you were adorable and snuggly and perfect miracles, but A is grand...... What makes him most grand is when he arrives at our house, looks around, makes eye contact with me and he smiles in instant recognition. He doesn't comprehend the concept of grandmother. Yet..... he knows me..... and that is so incredible. This child knows me and when he sees me his natural reaction is to smile...... What does that mean? It can only mean that his experiences with me are happy ones. Why else would he smile?

He somehow knows that I adore him, that he is everything sweet to me. Priceless blessings of Christmas come in such small packages.

Being an Eternal Band Geek

The Holidays are here and I ran across an "All Christmas Music, All Day" channel on our cable music choices. The first song was "Sleigh Ride" by the Boston Pops. I am sure you know the song; you hear sleigh bells through the entire song, the flutes and clarinets take turns carrying the melody and at the end you hear a crack of the whip and the horse neigh aka a trumpet with a strategically placed mute. It certainly was fun hearing our nephew, Colton, take on the role of the horse. There never was a better neigh in the Clyde Moore Auditorium.

I have so many memories that surround this song. The most recent involve listening to my own children play in the Redmond School Band Christmas Concerts for at least ten years. Jess was on my flute, Brand on the trumpet and then the French Horn, Brise on the bari sax and piano. What fun that was! I'm not sure why I was always so proud to hear my kids play music, but it still warms my heart.

Every time we went to their Christmas Concert I had flashbacks of playing my own little flute on the very same stage, just fifteen to twenty plus years earlier. Not much had changed at all. THe velvety red curtains still hang there looking pretty prestigious for such a small town as Redmond. There is something about the richness of a stage that is invigorating and builds a youngster's confidence. Don't we all want to be the center of the stage?

I remember a time when "Sleigh Ride" came together for us all in the RHS Band. We definitely had the beat down, the flutes and clarinets were in tune; we knew that for certain, because our director, Clyde Moore, wasn't wincing from the podium.

Speaking of the podium, there is something about learning self discipline in a group setting that I think is a very good thing for youngsters. Clyde, I mean, Mr. Moore, (We did call him Clyde behind his back when we were in high school, but it still had that ring of respect and awe.) Anyway, Mr. Moore had us practice coming to attention each time he stepped up onto the podium and we practiced and practiced until we were perfect. What is it about that sort of teamwork that has such a lasting memory for me?

When we played Sleigh Ride, we were having fun. We could each imagine a sleigh ride with some cute guy or gal. Little did I know, but my cute guy was such a short distance away from me that whole time. I always wondered what he would be like...... I think I digress.

Anyway, back to "Sleigh Ride;" the finale for that concert was playing the "Hallelujah Chorus,"from "The Messiah" by Handel. I believe, the choir sang with us, so most likey both Kiki and maybe my Jim were in actually there. On with the story, I remember getting a little misty when we played the Chorus. It was easily the most magestic piece of music I had ever played. The audience joined in on the last chorus and that auditorium literally rang with the fullest, most beautiful sounds that I had ever heard. We all received a spontaneous standing ovation. Granted, we were playing to our parents. It was quite a feat to make anything by Handel sound good enough for a standing ovation.

Maybe it had more to do with the music.... That eternal chorus that the angels are compelled to sing in ecstacy to our Father who sent His Son as a sweet little baby boy, who would brave a world that was seeped in sin.

For my small role in that night long ago, I am eternally thankful to be an eternal band geek. See the video for an "Amen" view of Handel's Messiah from the universe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlfxe8ujn7M&feature=related

2 Rings

I guess this is an extended comment on J's blog. I've learned a lot about being married over the last 26 years.

First, it doesn't feel like 26 years, because in so many ways we are still getting to know each other and figuring out how to take care of each other.

Second, it really helps to marry someone whom you value as a friend. I remember sitting at a stoplight in Jim's Mazda RX7 close to 30 years ago thinking that if I wasn't marrying him, I'd want him to be my friend. I know that sounds strange, but it was just a random thought that I remember. Since I realized this at the young age of 19 or 20, you would think that I would have figured out the friendship connection much earlier. It is totally expected that we should do nice things to show our friends that they are important to us. Shouldn't we look for little ways to show our spouse how much they mean to us. I don't want to look back over the next 26 years and wish that I had shown Jim every day that he is my life.

Third, the essence of loving someone is showing them respect. Somehow, because we are married, we equate the closeness that we share with our right to be our most selfish selves with each other. We expect our spouses to read our minds and inherently know exactly what we need from them at any given moment. We are utterly offended when they have a bad day instead of forgiving and ministering to the one we love. Just because we can say anything to our spouse, doesn't mean that we should say anything that comes to mind. The best words to say are the unkind ones unspoken.

Well, that reflects a bit on the 2 rings. When we traveled to my grandparents house, we slept in the living room of their tiny apartment. I woke in the morning and I could hear them talking in their bedroom. I couldn't make out a word, but every so often I could hear them quietly laughing. My grandmother passed away the next spring within hours of being baptized in the hospital by my father......

Just Take Your Foot Off the Gas

This is the comment that Jess left for my second blog:

"Jesus would be likeDear Carrie,Take your foot off the gas. Just take it off.:) Jokes. I love you mom. I do, I do!"

Sooooo, I can't resist commenting on this. J is referring to how I backseat drive. It all started when the kids were learning to drive. I'm not sure why their father didn't teach them to drive, but it seems like I always had the honors. With that honor came the phrase, "Just take your foot off the gas!" That certainly could be my theme for raising children. They want to do everything fast and technology has down nothing to change the process.

First, there is absolutely nothing scarier than putting your child behind the wheel of a car. At 16, they think they own the world and since they own it, they want to get into their own set of wheels and see it for themselves. There is nothing you can say to make them see how dangerous driving can be. I was especially hard on Brise, since he was the first. Branden drove like he played football and Jess..... She just laughed at me and still does.

So, Boo, what would Jesus mean if he sent you an email saying, "Just take your foot off the gas?" Would that mean that he is a backseat driver and if he is, shouldn't you listen to him? So logically, if Jesus gives the same backseat driving tips as yo momma, maybe you should listen to her!!!!!! (I love you, too. I do, I do!)

My Second Blog, plus an email from Jesus

Well, I could talk about how I went into "baby boy withdrawl," since A was gone for 5 days. We have had him for several hours today and I just can't believe how he grows in such a short period of time. He rolls over and when he is on his tummy he starts to push himself up on his hands.... Soon he will crawl.

Brand, I remember when you started crawling. You would see something you wanted and then you would put your head down and crawl as fast as you could until you got it. Then you would look up with a triumphant smile. Some personality traits never change do they..... You still have that single-minded energy that makes you someone who will attain the goals he sets for himself.

Jess, you crawled to wherever the boys were and then you would sit back and watch them. Often Brise would give you the toy that he was playing with. You may find that hard to believe, since he coveted and successfully snagged your Easter basket almost every year.

In terms of Biblical readings, I am almost finishing the Gospel According to John. Watching Jesus die a fourth time is going to be just as devastating as it was back in Matthew..... Of course, we have the resurrection to look forward to, but the sadness of the crucifiction makes my heart ache.....

So, I guess I should focus on Advent, since it is literally just around the corner. Having a baby in the house makes it easy to think of Jesus as an infant. Don't you just think that he must have been the sweetest baby? Talk about having the smile of an angel....

Which leads me to my final thought about Jesus tonight. I have a student named Jesus, obviously it is pronounced the Latino way, Haysoos. Anyway, I have a classroom blog. When the kids comment, I get an email with their name on the "From" line. I was taken aback when I received an email from Jesus the other day. It made me wonder what Jesus (not my student) would write to me in an email. Would it go something like this?

Hey! I was thinking of you today! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? I worked up that sunset just for you. I knew you'd appreciate the colors.
By the way, thanks for taking care of that friend of mine last week. It meant a lot to me that you would go out of your way to make her comfortable. That was a pretty tough time for her and you made it clear that she wasn't alone. That's what it's all about, right?
I was really proud of you the other day when you wanted to get mad at that guy and you decided to be kind instead. He was having a hard day and you forgave him before he could even ask, which he never did...... That's what I'm talking about.
Let's talk when you get a chance.....
Love, Your Really, Really Big Bro

My First Blog Entry

Well, Boo and Beardon, you have inspired me to do a little blogging myself. I have learned so much about the two of you through your blogs, so........ here we go.

I'm not really sure what to write about. I guess I could just document the day. We had brunch at B and C's house after church. Her family was there and A was obviously the entertainment of the day! He is so alert. It is almost like he just woke up from infanthood a few days ago and now he is a baby boy who is soaking up everything he sees and hears. He talks about it all regularly and I can tell that he thinks I understand every word he says. Being a grandparent is like reliving the most enjoyable parts of parenting without sleep deprivation.....