Gratituesday: For my girls

I am so thankful that I had grandmothers. They are the reason I am me. The goofy me that embraces acting the fool. The friendly me that will talk to people and look on the bright side.  The me that encourages my own daughters to be goofy and tolerant, true to themselves and to have manners. 

I was a spoiled little girl whose grandmothers indulged harmonica concerts, tea parties, and letter writing to state parks because said state park did not have enough swings. (True stories, all of them.) I tried to nurse a cat, learned to latch hook, sang at nursing homes, fed chickens, practiced casting off the front porch and was made to eat blue cheese (just once).  I climbed trees, learned how to crotchet and was given every book to read that they could get their hands on.

As an adult and even as a teenager, I learned that love sometimes  is cutting toe nails of someone who cannot do it anymore or  helping someone put their mastectomy bra on. Love is sometimes getting over your own hangups to be there for someone else.

My girls are lucky to have grandmothers as well. Theirs are very young and independent grandmothers. I hope they pass along all the skills they have learned to my girls. I hope that Delaney and Ellie look back at their childhoods and teen years and remember the silly and interesting things they learned from their grandmothers and that they hold onto those memories and lessons like life rafts through the rapids of life. 

 I am a better person, friend and above all a  better mom because I had those special  women in my life who indulged my crazy whims and taught me to look past myself. A simple, but important concept that is very hard to teach. 

I am so grateful my girls have that blessing as well.