So the Nonna blog has not been as active as I had planned...I mean it's been a year and I've thought about posting/possible posts but it hasn't happened. The Sweet Granddaughter's Mommy has been so very good about recording things and so that was never the direction I thought this blog would take.
I think my plan was more along the lines of writing things Sophie might find interesting way down the line...or at least things that I would have liked to read about my Grandma's thoughts.
For instance...
I meant to write about sitting in my back garden 500 miles from the birthing process wishing I could manage to be there...I had so many thoughts that day...I had to wonder what my mom thought and went through on the days her daughters gave birth. I'm not even certain she wasn't there for my sisters' children's births given that they were within a few miles of her home. (Although she was gone by the time my younger sister had her second child.) Knowing that I was soon to be a grandmother made me once again wish I was able to ask my mom some questions...too bad I didn't know what those questions would be when she was still here. Was she happy with her role as grandmother? What were her greatest joys? What would she suggest I never do? What should I be certain to do? What, in short, does one do to be a good grandmother?
Waiting for phone calls with updates was beyond difficult...and I couldn't settle down and read or even lose myself working in the garden. So instead, at 5:30 when I was alone, I sat down at the patio table and started to pray. In my church book club we had recently begun reading Enduring Grace...a book about women mystics by Carol Flinders. We were ending our meetings by praying a litany of saints and so I found myself praying in that form...beginning with the women saints we had been reading as well as our name saints and other women saints I felt drawn to name and then including the women in our family who had passed away. I then included male saints who I felt drawn to name such as St. Gerard (patron saint of pregnant women). When I came to the end I started over...and over again when I finished the second time. I felt a very certain connection, one I couldn't begin to explain, both to God and the family that was coming into being so far away.
And, of course, at some point during this meditative experience I got the wonderful phone call announcing the arrival of Sophia Ann! (And you can ask all my friends...I knew she was a girl!)
So here we are...a year later. She has changed, as one would expect, incredibly since that first meeting at 5 days old. I can remember, with my own children, seeing them grow and develop each day and how I would say "Now they are really becoming such a personality! You can really see who they are now!" Of course, I didn't know I'd still be saying that about them all these years later! And so it is and will be with Sophie...she'll develop her personality, her beliefs and values will help her interpret the world, her abilities and gifts will become more clear, her joys and sorrows, successes and failures will help her grow into the person she's meant to be. I can't help but think I'm awfully lucky to be able to be a part of it all and I can't wait to see what the coming year will bring!
The Sweet Granddaughter and I spent a fair amount of time outside this weekend during our trip to San Diego for her first birthday. We practiced having gentle hands with flowers in her courtyard...with only a few pink marguerites sacrificed in the process
...and I swear she can almost say flower! We walked up and down the front sidewalk so we could see more of the world...maybe as much as 50 feet..and she loved hearing the birds and would sign "bird" (her mom and dad have taught her baby signs and she knows quite a few!) Other things she really liked examining included pop-up sprinklers, drains in the landscaping, wood chips and iceplant. Just about every little thing was interesting and deserving of inspection...helping me to slow down and notice things I might not have otherwise seen. The least interesting things we saw were ants and a beetle. So maybe she won't be an entomologist...a dislike she comes by honestly from both mom and dad. So one possible career choice crossed off....eight million to go!
