Hey, Do You Wanna?

Together again!  In living color!

There are lots of things to love about a bestie - and I love my bestie LOTS!  Merry and I have been joined at the hips for almost two decades now - Yikes!!!  That sounds like a lot longer than it feels!  At any rate, one of the things I love the best is when either one of us starts a sentence with "hey, do you wanna..."  The proper response, and it never varies, is "YES!"  And off we go on some kind of adventure.

So a couple of months ago, I started the conversation with "hey, do you wanna go on a color run?"  And rather than the traditional response, she said, "hey, do you wanna bring Bryce and Ava?"  Oh, yeah!  This would, of course, mean Bryce, eldest of these Grandboy Tales, and Ava, Merry's grandgirlie-ish.  Ava's actual relational status is complicated, so we will leave it at that.

Feelin' Smurf-ish

You may remember that the four of us went to Disney World last summer.  The two events, in case you were wondering, have their similarities - scant as they are.  Both are in technicolor, much walking was involved, there were many people and a considerable amount of fairy dust floated through the air.  In other words, a color run is no match for Disney, but it is a different kind of fun.

Fairy Dust in the Air

After stopping for donuts at six o'clock in the morning. we headed down to the "run".  I put that in quotes since a considerable amount of the early morning conversation revolved around the fact that there would, indeed, be no running.  We intended to walk among the colors.  Arriving in time for the pre-party, the air was filled with multi-colored fairy dust and some un-Disney-like music to drum the assembled into a frenzy.  So it was that when it came our time to start the walk, Ava took off like shot.  Maybe it was the donuts.  We didn't try to keep up, and we didn't see her again until the finish line.

Bryce, Merry and I enjoyed our 5K stroll along the Fox River, pausing only to photo-document along the way.  Not surprisingly, we did not set a course record, though it might have been a personal record for each of us.  After meeting up with Ava again, the younger half of us found their way to the mosh pit by the stage.  The older and wiser among us kept an eye on water bottles and a park bench.  What a morning!

You know, it occurs to me that when Bryce discusses his Granma with his friends, I hope he tells the tale in glowing technicolor detail!  Because that's the kind of memories I hope he always has of me.  I do make cookies, but I don't knit.  And as you can see from the picture above, Bryce has the blue hair, not me.  Hmmm - wonder what kind of memories we can dream up with next!  "Hey, do you wanna...."

Pink to Red and all Shades Inbetween

I got married at 19 (which might explain why by the age of "39" I now have 8 grandbabies, one of whom will be 10 in a couple of months).  My first son was born when I was 20, the second at 21, and the third when I was a matronly 24.  We moved during my first pregnancy, and actually during the second one, too.  As a result, my belly was never the object of a baby shower - and who gives a shower for a third child, especially when he makes three of a kind?  It was never a deep longing of my heart, just one of those little known oddities that contributes to my...  You know what I mean.

Last week, my bestie, Merry, had a Granma shower for me - a PINK shower, to be exact!  She reasoned that after 3 sons and 5 grandboys, there was not a stitch of pink, nor a doll or princess item in the house.  She knows me well!  I wore my one pink item, which, true to form, borders on fuchsia.  Pastel is a very new addition to my vocabulary, and still a foreign one.  The card from a fellow quilter, was soft and sweet and advised me to keep and use it as a pastel guide in the future.  Thanks, Nancy, it will certainly come in handy!

I received preemie sized clothes, bibs, blankets, toys, books, flowers, candles, bath items, and more - all in various shades of pink!  There was nary a spot of blue to be found.  Even the margaritas we shared were pink!

Some things became evident regarding showers from the other side of the wrapping paper.  First, it's kind of like Christmas, sans the red and green (especially the green) - except that no one else was opening gifts.  I might surmise that all of my friends were on Santa's naughty list.  However, it is not even remotely possible that we would be on opposite sides of that divide, so skip the Christmas reference.  (Lower right corner of the picture is a pink flask, especially designed for a long day of Granma-ing.  Though it will never hold any liquid stronger than milk, it is proof positive that we definitely stick together on the naughty/nice split.)

Secondly, even besides the obvious color difference, grandgirlies' necessities are very different from grandboy fodder.  I'm kind of curious to see how the latter plays with a cuddly pink piggy, or what adventures they can think up for Barbie.  I am equally curious to see how the girls will play with them.  Bella will have to demonstrate.

Finally, the best gift of all:  my friends!!!  With greater frequency than I care to admit, I wonder if I'm good enough, worthy enough, likable enough.  Granma that I am, I'm little more than an insecure teenager - though we have established that I left that decade "at least" 20 years ago...  Maybe that's why I love being a Granma so much:  the midgets don't even question if I'm "all that"!  I'm big enough, strong enough, smart enough, sucker enough, childish enough to be their hero, their playmate, their champion.  Oh how I would love for them never to see the real me: insecure, fumbling, doubting - and even on occasion exhausted and frustrated by their antics.

But my friends see with adult eyes:  my shortcomings, flaws and over-extension, but also my hope, my love and my desires.

Pink entered through the door - overwhelmingly so!  But when friends gather to celebrate PINK, it's really all about RED - the same color as LOVE!  I love all of you, too!!  You are the best!