Thursday, June 15, 2006

Mom-Mom & Lilah


Mom-Mom & Lilah
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb
Okay, so we've clearly got a glut of blog entries right now, but what can I say? I've just spent a week in my children's company non-stop, so I find that I have more things to say about them. And of course, it was a landmark vacation on many fronts: longest trip we've EVER taken in a car (and may it stay that way, please God), first trip to the ocean, . . . and the reunion of four people who are each other's biggest fans.

This trip to visit Don and Donna (Mom-Mom and Pappy) was the first time I've really gotten a chance to observe the (I'm borrowing a friend's word here) "transcendent" bond between grandparents and grandchildren. Not to get too personal (!!!), but I never knew any of my grandparents well at all, and so I guess I just didn't quite "get it."

Well. I get it now. The moment when the kids first saw Don, while they were still strapped in their car seats, they both literally tried to break the straps to get to him, while he was grinning ear to ear and enveloping them in the huge hugs only he can give. Then at the house, Lilah heard Donna's voice in the dark and wriggled straight out of my arms shouting: "I need to see her!"

What I wish we'd gotten some pictures of was the church service we attended on Sunday, during which Don played his trumpet and French horn and Donna sang with the praise team on the altar. Lilah and Collin stood quietly (well, sort of quietly) in the aisle and danced to the music, one in lavender velvet and the other in his polo shirt and khakis, and the look in their eyes as they watched their grandparents was pure worship, appropriate enough for the place, though perhaps not directed at the intended party.

I thought briefly, with a little sense of loss, of some other people who were missing out on this experience: of getting this over-the-top unconditional love when really, you haven't done a single thing to really DESERVE it. But I also thought about what makes the bond between Mom-Mom and Pappy and Collin and Lilah even more special. Don and Donna appreciate every moment of their relationship with their grandkids, and they are giving crazy, over-the-top unconditional love that Lilah and Collin don't really DESERVE right back. Everybody should have a relationship that works that way in their lives, and I'm really glad our kids do.

Posted by claycomb at June 15, 2006 9:17 PM

Comments

Wow...that is an indredibly sweet post. I'm so glad the kids have that and will hope for just a sliver of that, should I ever be lucky enough to have some of my own.
Posted by: Nanette at June 16, 2006 12:36 PM

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