3 1/2 Days

Today we dropped Grandma DJ at the airport after a long weekend visit. The 20-minute ride home was difficult. It always is. Starting about an hour before we leave the house on departure day, Buby will say things like, "I'm sure gonna miss you, Grandma. Super much." And then he'll momentarily tip his head in sadness.

Later we pull up to Departing Flights. Grandma opens each of the kids' doors for goodbye hugs and kisses. I unroll their windows for a final shout out before pulling away. Within seconds I turn around and Buby's eyes are wet and glossy; his lower lip quivering. Then... the cry.

Buby doesn't often cry, but he does cry for his Grandma DJ on the day she leaves. Always. I do my best to reassure, console, treat him to a lil' something. I hold his hand while I drive and explain that he'll see Grandma again soon. Probably next month. But that's not good enough. "I wish she could come to my house every day," he cries. Bleu is a copy cat, so she gets weird, too, but she isn't sure why.

On today's ride home I reminded Buby and Bleu how truly blessed they are. I didn't have a grandma like Grandma DJ growing up. I didn't have a grandma like Grandma M. either. My grandmothers loved me, in their own way, but they were old. They didn't go places. They didn't walk me to the library and then cuddle up and read a dozen books in a row. They didn't light up at my jokes and tell me I was their most coolest buddy in the whole wide world. They didn't know my always-changing list of faves. They didn't throw snowballs back or send love notes in the mail.


I told Buby that Daddy had a special grandma, too. And before I could even finish my sentence Buby interrupted with, "But MY grandma lives far." Anyway....


An hour later we were fine. I put Buby on the phone with Tom at work. I overheard Tom say, "You know why you miss her so much? Because she loves you so much."