Take a Pen for a spin...

Where did the time go? Seems like it was just a couple of days ago since my last post.



I kind of retreated there for a bit after the 24th. Its still kind of a hard time for me but it is getting better.



I have spent the last week or so relishing being a grandfather. My grand daughter is just a few months past her second birthday. We have been playing and enjoying all the little things such as the mystery of a spoon and fork, learning colors and the names of things. I find it truly amazing looking at the world through her eyes. Everything is so new and so wondrous.


Yesterday for example I watched her make a whole world out of a Popsicle stick a blanket and a little stuffed animal. It was simply incredible to listen to her half formed words and the amount of emotion that went into her conversation with the Stick and the stuffed dog. When it came time for pampa to join in well lets just say I had a lot of fun talking to a stick and a stuffed dog.



Pampa is the name my daughter chose for her kids to call me. The story behind that is this. When I was very little I could not say grandpa, It came out as pampa. Shortly before Haylie was born my daughter came to me and asked if I minded if she taught her kids to call me pampa. When I asked her why, as this totally shocked me and I felt very honored by her request. She told me this. " If your dad had stayed in Arizona with the rest of his family, All of the grand kids would have called your gandpa pampa right?" I told her yes probably as I was there first grandchild. Her response was, well it a great tradition that she wanted to pass on because of the love behind it and she felt that it was a proper thing to do.

Still floors me that she did this and I am trying very hard to be worthy of the title.



I have been trying to bring some of that wonder back into my life. Some where along the path of growing up I lost so much wonder in the world and the the things around me. I know for me becoming bogged down with the day to day responsibilities of life has stripped me of the wonder in the little things, like the Popsicle stick. Think about it, there was a time in all of our lives when the simplest think could send us off to a world of the most wonderful things. I just thought of one of my favorite childhood toys. The rocket ship pen, I explored many a world with that thing, shot down many aliens and bad guys as well.

Funny how all those sayings you heard as a child or young adult start to make more and more sense. For example, "Stop and smell the roses", "This is going to hurt me more than it is you", "Don't be in such a hurry to grow up".



I guess with the Anniversary of my Fathers passing and the wonder of being a grandfather. I have been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster. The amazing thing is that I feel very good. The anniversary was very cleansing to my spirit and my grand daughter has filled my spirit with so much life. Cant wait for my grandson to reach and age where we can start playing together.



Be good to yourself, stop and smell those roses. the next time you find yourself holding a pen, take it for a spin. Who knows where it might take you.