The bedroom window is open, the early morning breeze moves slowly across my bed, making the top of the comforter feel cool while I’m nice and toasty underneath.
“Grandma watch me!”
I look out to see the youngest of the 3 boys next door running barefoot in the dewy grass.
Grandma is sitting on the front porch, coffee mug beside her, a tall container of bubble soap in one hand and a plastic wand in the other, expertly blowing bubbles that reflect the new day’s sun.
This boy is quick, chasing after the bubbles that soar higher than he can jump, trying to pivot and follow the breeze to grab them out of the air with a victorious laugh.
Their Border Collie joins in, both full of energy, in hot pursuit of the fragile and nearly invisible orbs, rainbows appearing on their oily surface to taunt them.
The boy’s laughter is pure, the sweet joyous sound of youth.
Grandma’s smile, her eyes taking it all in, holding the moment for as long as it lasts. The memory for her just as sweet and pure.
Opposite sides of a timeline, little boys in action, going after something that they know they can catch, you just watch and see.
Grandma’s creating amazing moments out of pretty much anything, and often nothing at all. It’s Grandma magic.
He may not remember this morning in detail, maybe not at all, but his life will be built with the joy that she creates in him.
He’ll tell his friends in the dormitory someday that his grandma was amazing. Probably credit her chocolate chip cookies, or that sled she bought him when he was a kid.
And all that’s true.
But these moments are the big little moments, when he was the first one awake, so she took him outside to play and not wake up the whole house.
7:00 AM sunlight, slippery cool grass clippings coating his little bare feet and pants, hands and face coated with a slippery dish soap sheen.
And in a moment, it’s a beautiful memory, the house is waking, there’s breakfast on the table and the day is ready to begin.
This morning’s gift, two soapy little handprints, one on each of grandma’s cheeks where he held her face and touched his nose to hers and said, “Love you grandma.”
