I am convinced that nothing will keep us young at heart like spending time with a happy child. It can also serve as a slice of humble pie.
Our 5-year-old granddaughter Landry is the perfect mix of spicy and sweet, and her observations of daily life, as it unfolds, can keep us grinning even on the toughest day.
She recently went through a difficult couple of weeks after a tonsillectomy, and I spent time with her as she recovered. Her mama set an alarm throughout the night to give pain medication, and the recovery proved to be a marathon.
At the same time, our high school football team was in the most amazing post-season play, the best in the history of the school. My sister’s 16-year-old twin grandsons play on the team; one is the starting quarterback.
I showed Landry pictures of her cousins as she was down and out and missing her daily kindergarten class.
“Isn’t this a great picture?” I asked, pointing out the vibrant colors, the football flying through the air after a great pass downfield.
“I bet you really like color, Gigi. When you were a kid, I knew that everything was just gray. Gray everything, just gray, gray gray. And now you can look out your window and see color EVERYWHERE!”
So, old Dark Ages granny here is enjoying the evolution of color with new eyes. On the day our team played in the football state championship for the first time, Landry and I watched it from the cozy comfort of her living room, while the rest of our crew sat in bitterly cold stadium seats an hour away.
“What color do you think the stadium seats are?” I asked.
“They are gray. When color came, some things just stayed gray and always will,” Landry answered without missing a beat. “But wouldn’t it be great if they were pink? Shiny pink!”
Before the morning was out, our mood was a bit gloomy gray as Hillsdale was beaten resolutely by Marion Local, whose 18 senior players have never lost a high school football game.
We hold high hopes of getting there again next year for the state championship, and I can promise you I won’t care a bit what color the stadium seats prove to be.
