Grandma Lives in China

Grandma and Oliver, September 2012

With the kids all starting school the day after I arrived in Pennsylvania to visit Ben, Cooper and the kids, I had a great visit with three-year old Oliver. He and I bonded. Maybe it was the daily exercise that he loved with the loud sound it made dropping weights on the floor. Maybe it was my racing the cars on the creative race track that Cooper had taped down where he did non-stop crashing in my cars. Maybe it was the scrambled cheese eggs I made. Or, to be real honest, it could have just been my iPad and the games downloaded that he loved playing. But for whatever reason, we had fun, and as far as Oliver was concerned, "grandma lives in China!"

Where we live!

From My Deck Every Morning

Nah, grandma doesn't live in China, but it may seem that far away when you have to take a minimum of two flights to get there - but only if you drive from Irvine to LAX, otherwise it's three flights to get to State College, PA. So, I make sure I'm there at least two weeks and have all of the work tools to continue keeping up with business while there. Although none of my kids nor grandkids live here in Irvine, or the state for that matter, living in irvine is like living year round at a five-star resort, and I love it. I feed the ducks, fish, turtles and geese every morning, read scriptures, then take a brisk walk around the lake and over the bridge. It is beautiful, and I comment out loud as I walk, "this is gorgeous here." And I don't take it for granted.  I love it.

Calvin and Jame

I made sure while I was there with Ben, Cooper and their family to take my walks with the kids individually when i could. I could ask them about school, their friends, and chat on a personal level. I found that Calvin suddenly, after already selecting the trumpet as his school instrument, decided he wanted to play the bass. That led to a conversation about all of the instrumentalists on the Clayton side of the family, with my grandpa Clayton playing the violin, my father the cello, and me the cello. That fascinated Calvin and he asked lots of questions about my family. Jane loves to sing and of course, I couldn't resist giving her a few vocal warm ups to work with. She would laugh, then do them when I wasn't watching. Both jane and Calvin love riding their bikes while I was walking, and Calvin made sure to corral Jane in from riding in the middle of the street to the sidewalk. That made me smile. How loving a brother he was with her.

Adelaide's First Pedicure

Adelaide talked with me on our walk about the struggles she has had with pneumonia, asthma and bronchitis all of her life. She said, as we walked, "grandma, I inherited your lungs." And she's right. I arrived in PA with my annual full-blown bronchitis, and non-stop coughing up a lung was the order of every morning. She would look at me with compassion and say, "I'm sorry grandma." My special treat to Adelaide on her 13th birthday was to take her for her first pedicure. She loved it and was all smiles the entire time. What she doesn't realize...a girl can get used to that very fast!

Nolan and His Legos

Nolan

Nolan is just too smart for his own good. He loves his scary Lego collections. And takes hours putting them together. So, I took one night and filmed him with my camera phone explaining the collection he loves and all of the detailed weapons, etc. It was very fascinating. One evening after school he took his turn to walk with me and chat. He talked about missing his best friend who had, because of the parents divorce, moved away. That made Nolan very sad. 

No, grandma doesn't live in China, but she lives too far away from all eighteen (18) of her beautiful grandchildren and children. And when I get to visit, I wish i could stay forever. Thank goodness for all of these handy gadgets - Facetime, Skype, etc. it isn't like being there, but it helps. Oh, did I mention? Adelaide's friends thought I was her aunt. That in itself was very cool.