Gulf Coast Family

by Joy and Jerry Lancaster

All one has to do is look at the displays in the stores and malls to see that “love is in the air.” Valentine’s Day is coming up, but Grampy and I had a wonderful experience over the Christmas holiday that demonstrates a wonderful way to show love.

The hardest part of being grandparents is that 4 of our 6 grandchildren do live so far away. But we were able to spend nine whole days with our Missouri grandchildren, so our Grammy and Grampy love banks are full once again. Our daughter, Keri, had asked us if we could come up there for the holidays, because she and her husband were both going to have to work on Christmas day. (She is a labor and delivery nurse and her husband is a paramedic). So…we packed our winter woolies and made our way to the frozen Midwest. Brrr! We both had forgotten just how cold 2 degrees is! The Florida sun never felt as good as it did when we returned!

The children were able to have a very early Christmas morning before Mommy and Daddy left for work. They opened their “Santa” presents, and left the others to open when mommy and daddy returned later that evening. We both thought there would be some complaining about that, but since our grandchildren are perfect ?, they were content to wait. As Keri got ready to leave for work, she gathered her children around her and told them that she had wrapped some special presents for them, and that they could open one each hour throughout the day. This turned out to be a HUGE source of excitement for them. They asked us several times “Has it been an hour yet?” Some of the gifts were: special doughnuts for breakfast; play dough and cookie cutters; a cake mix and frosting to make a “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake; new mugs with their name on them, and all the fixings for hot chocolate; and a new VeggieTales video to watch at rest time. What a creative way to turn what could have been a very sad day into a day of excitement and joy. Before we knew it, mommy and daddy were both home, and the celebrations continued!

As I thought about the events of the day, I thought of my own mother. Although she passed away over 15 years ago, she made a huge impression on her children and grandchildren. She had a way of making every day a party! She could make anything, from dragging tree branches around to the trash pile, to a picnic in the back yard a grand occasion. She left a wonderful legacy of love to our family, and as I watch my three daughters mothering their children, and enjoying even the small things, I know Grandma Folsom would be proud.